Bipolar membrane electrolyzers enable high single-pass CO₂ electroreduction to multicarbon products.

ABSTRACT: In alkaline and neutral MEA CO₂ electrolyzers, CO₂ rapidly converts to (bi)carbonate, imposing a significant energy penalty arising from separating CO₂ from the anode gas outlets. Here we report a CO₂ electrolyzer uses a bipolar membrane (BPM) to convert (bi)carbonate back to CO₂, preventing crossover; and that surpasses the single-pass utilization (SPU) limit (25% for multi-carbon products, C₂₊) suffered by previous neutral-media electrolyzers. We employ a stationary unbuffered catholyte layer between BPM and cathode to promote C₂₊ products while ensuring that (bi)carbonate is converted back, in situ, to CO₂ near the cathode. We develop a model that enables the design of the catholyte layer, finding th

SUBMITTER: Xie K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9232613 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature