One step closer to industrially relevant CO2 electrolysis to hydrocarbons
TUM.PtX News |
To mitigate global warming, the reduction of CO2 emissions plays a pivotal role. One promising approach is the development of CO2 electrolyzers, which can use CO2 from the atmosphere to produce chemicals and fuels in an environmentally sustainable way, thereby substituting carbon from fossil sources.
However, technical maturity has not been reached yet and there is a substantial need in working on the scalability of the reaction cell, electrode design and long-term stability of the electrode material for ethylene formation.
The primary objective of this study is to develop and enhance CO2-to-C2H4 electrolyzers, which can be commercially applied in the production chain for sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) derived from CO2. The authors examined various electrolyzer cells and identified two cell architectures that demonstrate apparent scalability to industrial sizes. Particularly, a CEM-based one-gap cell design (CEM: cation exchange membrane) demonstrated significant potential for scalability due to its high faradaic efficiency and month-long stability. Additional research is necessary, but this work represents a pivotal step towards achieving industry-relevant lifetime operation.
[1] B. Sahin, et al. “Fine-tuned combination of cell and electrode designs unlocks month-long stable low temperature Cu-based CO2 electrolysis.” Journal of CO2 Utilization 82 (2024) 102766.