The impact of flue gas impurities on the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide with copper catalysts
The direct electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C2+ products from flue gases is a promising route to convert waste CO2 into valuable products without expensive capture and purification steps. However, impurities may hamper the efficiency and stability. Here we investigate the impact of N2, O2, SO2 an...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of CO2 Utilization |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212982025000915 |
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| Summary: | The direct electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C2+ products from flue gases is a promising route to convert waste CO2 into valuable products without expensive capture and purification steps. However, impurities may hamper the efficiency and stability. Here we investigate the impact of N2, O2, SO2 and NO on CO2 electrolysis with Cu catalysts. While N2 causes a diluting effect without side reactions, O2 is responsible for a parasitic reduction reaction that accounts for > 85 % Faradaic efficiency at 5 % O2. The development of a PTFE GDE architecture prevents all oxygen reduction on the carbon substrate and achieves 40.1 % Faradaic efficiency to C2+ at 350 mA/cm2 with a 4 % O2 impurity. Finally, stability measurements with NO or SO2 were conducted at 100 mA/cm2 and show that ∼200 ppm NO has a negligible influence on the performance, but ∼200 ppm SO2 irreversibly shifts the product distribution from C2+ products to formate. This work comprises crucial information to potentially bypass the CO2 purification steps, increasing economical viability. |
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| ISSN: | 2212-9839 |