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Analysis of Different Factors Affecting the Product Selectivity of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Modeled in a Flow Cell

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Abstract

Using renewable energy sources, the electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECR) into industrially important feedstock is a promising technology to neutralize the carbon cycle and generate energy-dense fuels. Herein, the ECR modeling in a flow cell to produce formate using Sn electrode is presented. We show the effect of different factors such as pressure, velocity, cell potential on the faradaic efficiency and current density of several products and pH around the cathode. The results show that high pressure is required to achieve high current density to maintain a constant faradaic efficiency at a constant velocity. For 2.7 V cell potential, the formate faradaic efficiency increases by 18% when the velocity is increased by an order of magnitude and this variation is not explicit at high-pressure values. The great influence on the formate current density can be observed at a constant cell potential when the pressure is increased, provided that the reduction process limits the mass transfer. At atmospheric pressure and 3.1 V cell potential, enhancing the velocity improves the cathode usage to perform CO2 reduction because decreased concentration boundary layers are observed at high velocity, which improves the CO2 flux for the cathode and also provides the CO2 across the cathode height. Moreover, different electrolytes; sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), potassium sulfate (K2SO4), potassium chloride (KCl), sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), along with the electrolyte used in the present study, potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) have also been experimentally investigated to demonstrate and understand their effects on ECR in detail. The results of the present work can provide useful insights for future experimental research studies on flow cells to adopt optimized operating conditions, consequently improving the overall ECR efficiency.

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DATA AVAILIBILITY

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the China National Key Research and Development Plan Project (2018YFA0702300), National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant nos. 51876049; 51950410590, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Grant numbers: 2019M651284, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (HIT.NSRIF.2020054).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Aerospace Thermophysics of MIIT, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150001, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Azeem Mustafa, Bachirou Guene Lougou, Shuai Yong & Enkhbayar Shagdar

  2. School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150001, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Azeem Mustafa, Bachirou Guene Lougou, Shuai Yong & Enkhbayar Shagdar

  3. MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150001, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Bachirou Guene Lougou, Zhijiang Wang & Jiupeng Zhao

  4. School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, Australia

    Samia Razzaq

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  1. Azeem Mustafa
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  2. Bachirou Guene Lougou
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  3. Shuai Yong
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  4. Samia Razzaq
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  5. Enkhbayar Shagdar
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  7. Jiupeng Zhao
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Correspondence to Bachirou Guene Lougou or Shuai Yong.

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Azeem Mustafa, Lougou, B.G., Yong, S. et al. Analysis of Different Factors Affecting the Product Selectivity of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Modeled in a Flow Cell. Russ J Electrochem 59, 229–240 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1023193523030096

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