Electrolyzer and Catalysts Design from Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide Electrochemical Reduction

Jingfu He; Yuanli Li; Aoxue Huang; Qinghua Liu; Changli Li

doi:10.1007/s41918-021-00100-y

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2021, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (4) : 680 -717. DOI: 10.1007/s41918-021-00100-y

Review Article

Electrolyzer and Catalysts Design from Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide Electrochemical Reduction

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¹School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275, Guangzhou, Guanɡdonɡ, China

²Fundamental Science on Nuclear Wastes and Environmental Safety Laboratory, Southwest University of Science and Technology, 621010, Mianyang, Sichuan, China

³Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, V6T1Z1, Vancouver, BC, Canada

⁴National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, 230029, Hefei, Anhui, China

^a hejf27@mail.sysu.edu.cn

^e lichli5@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Jingfu He

is currently an associate professor in School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University. He received his PhD in 2012 from University of Science and Technology of China. He joined Berlinguette group at the University of British Columbia as a postdoctoral associate in 2015 and conducted research on CO₂ electrocatalysts and electrolyzer. His current research interests include photoelectrochemistry and electrochemistry for solar energy conversion.

Yuanli Li

is currently a PhD candidate in National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China under the supervision of Prof. Shiqiang Wei and Prof. Qinghua Liu. She received her M.E. degree in 2011 from Sichuan University. She joined Southwest University of Science and Technology as an assistant professor in 2013. Her current research interests focus on (photo)electrochemistry of energy conversion nanomaterials and advanced in situ/operando synchrotron radiation experimental techniques.

Aoxue Huang

is a PhD candidate in the Berlinguette group at the University of British Columbia. She received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Wuhan University. Her current research interests include electrocatalysis and electrolyzer design.

Prof. Qinghua Liu

is currently a member of National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He received his PhD in 2009 from University of Science and Technology of China and then did research work on renewable energy conversion and synchrotron radiation experimental techniques. His current research interests focus on the synthesis and characterizations of advanced energy functional nanomaterials for photocatalytic, electrochemical, and photoelectrochemical applications and the development of advanced in situ/operando synchrotron radiation experimental techniques and their applications in energy storage and reaction mechanism.

Prof. Changli Li

is an associate professor at the School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University, China. He received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 2015. After postdoctoral studies at Tsinghua University and The University of British Columbia, he began his independent career as faculty member at Sun Yat-sen University. His research activities focus on the synthesis of nanostructured materials and semiconductor heterojunctions for electrochemical and photoelectrochemical energy conversion.

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Abstract

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) has attracted considerable attention in the recent decade for its critical role in the storage of renewable energy and fulfilling of the carbon cycle, and catalysts with varying morphology and modification strategies have been studied to improve the CO₂RR activity and selectivity. However, most of the achievements are focused on preliminary reduction products such as CO and HCOOH. Development and research on electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CORR) are considered to be more promising to achieve multicarbon products and a better platform to understand the mechanism of C–C formation. In this review, we introduce the current achievements of CO₂RR and emphasize the potential of CORR. We provide a summary of how electrolysis environment, electrode substrates, and cell design affect the performance of CORR catalysts in order to offer a guideline of standard operating conditions for CORR research. The composition–structure–activity relationships for CORR catalysts studied in H-cells and gas-phase flow cells are separately analyzed to give a comprehensive understanding of the development of catalyst design. Finally, the reaction mechanism, latest progress, major challenges and potential opportunities of CORR are also analyzed to provide a critical overview for further performance improvement of CORR.

Graphical abstract

This work reviews the recent progress and potential of carbon monoxide reduction (CORR)research. A comprehensive summary of how electrolysis environment, electrode substrate, andcell design affect the performance of CORR catalysts is performed and the composition-structure-activity relationships for CORR catalysts are analyzed.

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Jingfu He, Yuanli Li, Aoxue Huang, Qinghua Liu, Changli Li. Electrolyzer and Catalysts Design from Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide Electrochemical Reduction. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2021, 4(4): 680-717 DOI:10.1007/s41918-021-00100-y