Publication date: 6th November 2020
Renewably powered CO2 electrocatalysis presents an opportunity to de-carbonize chemical production. Ultimate application of CO2 reduction will require electrocatalytic systems that provide reactants, electrons, and products at high rate and efficiency, and that are compatible with upstream and downstream processes. I will outline our progress on membrane electrode assembly based cells to meet this challenge. To accommodate O2 impurities from upstream processes we develop a hydrated ionomer catalyst coating that selectively slows O2 transport and stabilizes the copper catalyst. To increase reaction rate and energy efficiency we develop an adlayer catalyst strategy that increases local CO2 availability and tunes intermediate adsorption for ethylene production. For ethanol production we focus on minimizing product cross-over to the anode, and achieve ethanol production in excess of 10wt% - comparable to bio-ethanol production and compatible with downstream processes. Lastly I will highlight learnings, challenges and opportunities arising from our system scaling efforts in the 2020 Carbon XPRIZE competition.
This work is a result of the collaboration of the Sinton and Sargent groups at the University of Toronto. The work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, Total SA, and Suncor Energy.
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