Towards Higher NH3 Faradaic Efficiency: Selective-Poisoning of HER Active Sites by Co-Feeding CO in NO Electroreduction

Direct electroreduction of nitric oxide offers a promising avenue to produce valuable chemicals, such as ammonia, which is an essential chemical to produce fertilizers. Direct ammonia synthesis from NO in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer is advantageous for its continuous operation and excellent mass transport characteristics. However, at a high current density, the faradaic efficiency of NO electroreduction reaction is limited by the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report a CO-mediated selective poisoning strategy to enhance the faradaic efficiency (FE) towards ammonia by suppressing the HER. In the presence of only NO at the cathode, Pt/C and Pd/C catalysts showed a lower FE towards NH3 than to H2 due to the dominating HER. Cu/C catalyst showed a 78 % FE towards NH3 at 2.0 V due to the stronger binding affinity to NO* compared to H*. By co-feeding CO, the FE of Cu/C catalyst towards NH3 was improved by 12 %. More strikingly, for Pd/C, the FE towards NH3 was enhanced by 95 % with CO co-feeding, by effectively suppressing HER. This is attributed to the change of the favorable surface coverage resulting from the selective and competitive binding of CO* to H* binding sites, thereby improving NH3 selectivity.

A Quantitative Analysis of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction on Copper in Organic Amide and Nitrile-Based Electrolytes

Aqueous electrolytes used in CO₂ electroreduction typically have a CO₂ solubility of around 34 mM under ambient conditions, contributing to mass transfer limitations in the system. Non-aqueous electrolytes exhibit higher CO₂ solubility (by 5-8-fold) and also provide possibilities to suppress the undesired hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). On the other hand, a proton donor is needed to produce many of the products commonly obtained with aqueous electrolytes. This work investigates the electrochemical CO₂ reduction performance of copper in non-aqueous electrolytes based on dimethylformamide (DMF), n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), and acetonitrile (ACN). The main objective is to analyze whether non-aqueous electrolytes are a viable alternative to aqueous electrolytes for hydrocarbon production. Additionally, the effects of aqueous/non-aqueous anolytes, membrane, and the selection of a potential window on the electrochemical CO₂ reduction performance are addressed in this study. Experiments with pure DMF and NMP mainly produced oxalate with a faradaic efficiency (FE) reaching >80%; however, pure ACN mainly produced hydrogen and formate due to the presence of more residual water in the system. Addition of 5% (v/v) water to the non-aqueous electrolytes resulted in increased HER and formate production with negligible hydrocarbon production. Hence, we conclude that aqueous electrolytes remain a better choice for the production of hydrocarbons and alcohols on a copper electrode, while organic electrolytes based on DMF and NMP can be used to obtain a high selectivity toward oxalate and formate.

Unravelling the Effect of Activators used in The Synthesis of Biomass-Derived Carbon Electrocatalysts on the Electrocatalytic Performance for CO2 Reduction

N-doped carbon materials can be efficient and cost-effective catalysts for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR). Activators are often used in the synthesis process to increase the specific surface area and porosity of these carbon materials. However, owing to the diversity of activators and the differences in physicochemical properties that these activators induce, the influence of activators used for the synthesis of N-doped carbon catalysts on their electrochemical performance is unclear. In this study, a series of bagasse-derived N-doped carbon catalysts is prepared with the assistance of different activators to understand the correlation between activators, physicochemical properties, and electrocatalytic performance for the CO2 RR. The properties of N-doped carbon catalysts, such as N-doping content, microstructure, and degree of graphitization, are found to be highly dependent on the type of activator applied in the synthesis procedure. Moreover, the overall CO2 RR performance of the synthesized electrocatalysts is not determined only by the N-doping level and the configuration of the N-dopant, but rather by the overall surface chemistry, where the porosity and the degree of graphitization are jointly responsible for significant differences in CO2 RR performance.

Revisiting the Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction on Molybdenum and Iron Carbides: Promising Catalysts or False Positives?

The electrochemical dinitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) has recently gained much interest as it can potentially produce ammonia from renewable intermittent electricity and replace the Haber-Bosch process. Previous literature studies report Fe- and Mo-carbides as promising electrocatalysts for the NRR with activities higher than other metals. However, recent understanding of extraneous ammonia and nitrogen oxide contaminations have challenged previously published results. Here, we critically assess the NRR performance of several Fe- and Mo-carbides reported as promising by implementing a strict experimental protocol to minimize the effect of impurities. The successful synthesis of α-Mo₂C decorated carbon nanosheets, α-Mo₂C nanoparticles, θ-Fe₃C nanoparticles, and χ-Fe₅C₂ nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron and Mössbauer spectroscopy. After performing NRR chronoamperometric tests with the synthesized materials, the ammonia concentrations varied between 37 and 124 ppb and are in close proximity with the estimated ammonia background level. Notwithstanding the impracticality of these extremely low ammonia yields, the observed ammonia did not originate from the electrochemical nitrogen reduction but from unavoidable extraneous ammonia and NO _x impurities. These findings are in contradiction with earlier literature studies and show that these carbide materials are not active for the NRR under the employed conditions. This further emphasizes the importance of a strict protocol in order to distinguish between a promising NRR catalyst and a false positive.

Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Oxalic Acid: Experiments, Process Modeling, and Economics

We performed H-cell and flow cell experiments to study the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to oxalic acid (OA) on a lead (Pb) cathode in various nonaqueous solvents. The effects of anolyte, catholyte, supporting electrolyte, temperature, water content, and cathode potential on the Faraday efficiency (FE), current density (CD), and product concentration were investigated. We show that a high FE for OA can be achieved (up to 90%) at a cathode potential of −2.5 V vs Ag/AgCl but at relatively low CDs (10–20 mA/cm²). The FE of OA decreases significantly with increasing water content of the catholyte, which causes byproduct formation (e.g., formate, glycolic acid, and glyoxylic acid). A process design and techno-economic evaluation of the electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to OA is presented. The results show that the electrochemical route for OA production can compete with the fossil-fuel based route for the base case scenario (CD of 100 mA/cm², OA FE of 80%, cell voltage of 4 V, electrolyzer CAPEX of $20000/m², electricity price of $30/MWh, and OA price of $1000/ton). A sensitivity analysis shows that the market price of OA has a huge influence on the economics. A market price of at least $700/ton is required to have a positive net present value and a payback time of less than 10 years. The performance and economics of the process can be further improved by increasing the CD and FE of OA by using gas diffusion electrodes and eliminating water from the cathode, lowering the cell voltage by increasing the conductivity of the electrolyte solutions, and developing better OA separation methods.

Ultrasound-promoted preparation of polyvinyl ferrocene-based electrodes for selective formate separation: Experimental design and optimization

The selective separation of ions is a major technological challenge having far-ranging impacts from product separation in electrochemical production of base chemicals from CO₂ to water purification. In recent years, ion-selective electrochemical systems leveraging redox-materials emerged as an attractive platform based on their reversibility and remarkable ion selectivity. In the present study, we present an ultrasound-intensified fabrication process for polyvinyl ferrocene (PVF)-functionalized electrodes in a carbon nanotube (CNT) matrix for selective electro-adsorption of formate ions. To this end, a response surface methodology involving the Box-Behnken design with three effective independent variables, namely, PVF to CNT ratio, sonication duration, and ultrasonic amplitude was applied to reach the maximum formate adsorption efficiency. The fabricated electrodes were characterized using cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM images revealed that an optimized ultrasonic amplitude and sonication time provided remarkable improvements in electrode morphology. Through a sedimentation study, we qualitatively demonstrate that the main optimized conditions improved PVF/CNT dispersion stability, consequently providing the highest number of active surface sites for adsorption and the highest adsorption efficiency. The highest percentage of active electrode surface sites and the maximum adsorption efficiency were 97.8 and 90.7% respectively at a PVF/CNT ratio of 3, ultrasonication time of one hour, and 50% ultrasonic amplitude.

Surface Coverage as an Important Parameter for Predicting Selectivity Trends in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is important for a sustainable future. Key insights into the reaction pathways have been obtained by density functional theory (DFT) analysis, but so far, DFT has been unable to give an overall understanding of selectivity trends without important caveats. We show that an unconsidered parameter in DFT models of electrocatalysts-the surface coverage of reacting species-is crucial for understanding the CO₂RR selectivities for different surfaces. Surface coverage is a parameter that must be assumed in most DFT studies of CO₂RR electrocatalysts, but so far, only the coverage of nonreacting adsorbates has been treated. Explicitly treating the surface coverage of reacting adsorbates allows for an investigation that can more closely mimic operating conditions. Furthermore, and of more immediate importance, the use of surface coverage-dependent adsorption energies allows for the extraction of ratios of adsorption energies of CO₂RR intermediates (COOH_ads and HCOO_ads) that are shown to be predictive of selectivity and are not susceptible to systematic errors. This approach allows for categorization of the selectivity of several monometallic catalysts (Pt, Pd, Au, Ag, Zn, Cu, Rh, W, Pb, Sn, In, Cd, and Tl), even problematic ones such as Ag or Zn, and does so by only considering the adsorption energies of known intermediates. The selectivity of the further reduction of COOH_ads can now be explained by a preference for Tafel or Heyrovsky reactions, recontextualizing the nature of selectivity of some catalysts. In summary, this work resolves differences between DFT and experimental studies of the CO₂RR and underlines the importance of surface coverage.

Electroreduction of CO2/CO to C2 Products: Process Modeling, Downstream Separation, System Integration, and Economic Analysis

Direct electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C2 products such as ethylene is more efficient in alkaline media, but it suffers from parasitic loss of reactants due to (bi)carbonate formation. A two-step process where the CO2 is first electrochemically reduced to CO and subsequently converted to desired C2 products has the potential to overcome the limitations posed by direct CO2 electroreduction. In this study, we investigated the technical and economic feasibility of the direct and indirect CO2 conversion routes to C2 products. For the indirect route, CO2 to CO conversion in a high temperature solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) or a low temperature electrolyzer has been considered. The product distribution, conversion, selectivities, current densities, and cell potentials are different for both CO2 conversion routes, which affects the downstream processing and the economics. A detailed process design and techno-economic analysis of both CO2 conversion pathways are presented, which includes CO2 capture, CO2 (and CO) conversion, CO2 (and CO) recycling, and product separation. Our economic analysis shows that both conversion routes are not profitable under the base case scenario, but the economics can be improved significantly by reducing the cell voltage, the capital cost of the electrolyzers, and the electricity price. For both routes, a cell voltage of 2.5 V, a capital cost of $10,000/m2, and an electricity price of <$20/MWh will yield a positive net present value and payback times of less than 15 years. Overall, the high temperature (SOEC-based) two-step conversion process has a greater potential for scale-up than the direct electrochemical conversion route. Strategies for integrating the electrochemical CO2/CO conversion process into the existing gas and oil infrastructure are outlined. Current barriers for industrialization of CO2 electrolyzers and possible solutions are discussed as well.

In Situ ATR-SEIRAS of Carbon Dioxide Reduction at a Plasmonic Silver Cathode

Illumination of a voltage-biased plasmonic Ag cathode during CO2 reduction results in a suppression of the H2 evolution reaction while enhancing CO2 reduction. This effect has been shown to be photonic rather than thermal, but the exact plasmonic mechanism is unknown. Here, we conduct an in situ ATR-SEIRAS (attenuated total reflectance-surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy) study of a sputtered thin film Ag cathode on a Ge ATR crystal in CO2-saturated 0.1 M KHCO3 over a range of potentials under both dark and illuminated (365 nm, 125 mW cm-2) conditions to elucidate the nature of this plasmonic enhancement. We find that the onset potential of CO2 reduction to adsorbed CO on the Ag surface is -0.25 VRHE and is identical in the light and the dark. As the production of gaseous CO is detected in the light near this onset potential but is not observed in the dark until -0.5 VRHE, we conclude that the light must be assisting the desorption of CO from the surface. Furthermore, the HCO3- wavenumber and peak area increase immediately upon illumination, precluding a thermal effect. We propose that the enhanced local electric field that results from the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is strengthening the HCO3- bond, further increasing the local pH. This would account for the decrease in H2 formation and increase the CO2 reduction products in the light.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction on nanostructured metal electrodes: fact or defect?

Electrochemical CO2 reduction has received an increased amount of interest in the last decade as a promising avenue for storing renewable electricity in chemical bonds. Despite considerable progress on catalyst performance using nanostructured electrodes, the sensitivity of the reaction to process conditions has led to debate on the origin of the activity and high selectivity. Additionally, this raises questions on the transferability of the performance and knowledge to other electrochemical systems. At its core, the discrepancy is primarily a result of the highly porous nature of nanostructured electrodes, which are vulnerable to both mass transport effects and structural changes during the electrolysis. Both effects are not straightforward to identify and difficult to decouple. Despite the susceptibility of nanostructured electrodes to mass transfer limitations, we highlight that nanostructured silver electrodes exhibit considerably higher activity when normalized to the electrochemically active surface in contrast to gold and copper electrodes. Alongside, we provide a discussion on how active surface area and thickness of the catalytic layer itself can influence the onset potential, selectivity, stability, activity and mass transfer inside and outside of the three dimensional catalyst layer. Key parameters and potential solutions are highlighted to decouple mass transfer effects from the measured activity in electrochemical cells utilizing CO2 saturated aqueous solutions.

Electrolyte Effects on the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 to fuels or commodity chemicals is a reaction of high interest for closing the anthropogenic carbon cycle. The role of the electrolyte is of particular interest, as the interplay between the electrocatalytic surface and the electrolyte plays an important role in determining the outcome of the CO2 reduction reaction. Therefore, insights on electrolyte effects on the electrochemical reduction of CO2 are pivotal in designing electrochemical devices that are able to efficiently and selectively convert CO2 into valuable products. Here, we provide an overview of recently obtained insights on electrolyte effects and we discuss how these insights can be used as design parameters for the construction of new electrocatalytic systems.

Local structure and composition of PtRh nanoparticles produced through cathodic corrosion

Alloy nanoparticles fulfill an important role in catalysis. As such, producing them in a simple and clean way is much desired. A promising alloy nanoparticle production method is cathodic corrosion, which generates particles by applying an AC voltage to an alloy electrode. However, this harsh AC potential program might affect the final elemental distribution of the nanoparticles. In this work, we address this issue by characterizing the time that is required to create 1 μmol of Rh, Pt₁₂Rh₈₈, Pt₅₅Rh₄₅ and Pt nanoparticles under various applied potentials. The corrosion time measurements are complemented by structural characterization through transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The corrosion times indicate that platinum and rhodium corrode at different rates and that the cathodic corrosion rates of the alloys are dominated by platinum. In addition, the structure-sensitive techniques reveal that the elemental distributions of the created alloy nanoparticles indeed exhibit small degrees of elemental segregation. These results indicate that the atomic alloy structure is not always preserved during cathodic corrosion.

CO2 Reduction Selective for C≥2 Products on Polycrystalline Copper with N-Substituted Pyridinium Additives

Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction to generate multicarbon products is of interest for applications in artificial photosynthetic schemes. This is a particularly attractive goal for CO₂ reduction by copper electrodes, where a broad range of hydrocarbon products can be generated but where selectivity for C-C coupled products relative to CH₄ and H₂ remains an impediment. Herein we report a simple yet highly selective catalytic system for CO₂ reduction to C_≥2 hydrocarbons on a polycrystalline Cu electrode in bicarbonate aqueous solution that uses N-substituted pyridinium additives. Selectivities of 70-80% for C₂ and C₃ products with a hydrocarbon ratio of C_≥2/CH₄ significantly greater than 100 have been observed with several additives. ¹³C-labeling studies verify CO₂ to be the sole carbon source in the C_≥2 hydrocarbons produced. Upon electroreduction, the N-substituted pyridinium additives lead to film deposition on the Cu electrode, identified in one case as the reductive coupling product of N-arylpyridinium. Product selectivity can also be tuned from C_≥2 species to H₂ (∼90%) while suppressing methane with certain N-heterocyclic additives.

Gastight Hydrodynamic Electrochemistry: Design for a Hermetically Sealed Rotating Disk Electrode Cell

Rotating disk electrodes (RDEs) are widely used in electrochemical characterization to analyze the mechanisms of various electrocatalytic reactions. RDE experiments often make use of or require collection and quantification of gaseous products. The combination of rotating parts and gaseous analytes makes the design of RDE cells that allow for headspace analysis challenging due to gas leaks at the interface of the cell body and the rotator. In this manuscript we describe a new, hermetically sealed electrochemical cell that allows for electrode rotation while simultaneously providing a gastight environment. Electrode rotation in this new cell design is controlled by magnetically coupling the working electrode to a rotating magnetic driver. Calibration of the RDE using a tachometer shows that the rotation speed of the electrode is the same as that of the magnetic driver. To validate the performance of this cell for hydrodynamic measurements, limiting currents from the reduction of a potassium ferrocyanide (K₄[Fe(CN)₆]·3H₂O) were measured and shown to compare favorably with calculated values from the Levich equation and with data obtained using more typical, nongastight RDE cells. Faradaic efficiencies of ∼95% were measured in the gas phase for oxygen evolution in alkaline media at an Inconel 625 alloy electrocatalyst during rotation at 1600 rpm. These data verify that a gastight environment is maintained even during rotation.

Palladium–gold catalyst for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C1–C5 hydrocarbons

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ on PdAu electrodes yields the production of C₁–C₅ hydrocarbons.

Catalysts and Reaction Pathways for the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 has gained significant interest recently as it has the potential to trigger a sustainable solar-fuel-based economy. In this Perspective, we highlight several heterogeneous and molecular electrocatalysts for the reduction of CO2 and discuss the reaction pathways through which they form various products. Among those, copper is a unique catalyst as it yields hydrocarbon products, mostly methane, ethylene, and ethanol, with acceptable efficiencies. As a result, substantial effort has been invested to determine the special catalytic properties of copper and to elucidate the mechanism through which hydrocarbons are formed. These mechanistic insights, together with mechanistic insights of CO2 reduction on other metals and molecular complexes, can provide crucial guidelines for the design of future catalyst materials able to efficiently and selectively reduce CO2 to useful products.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction on Cu2O-derived copper nanoparticles: controlling the catalytic selectivity of hydrocarbons

The catalytic activity and hydrocarbon selectivity in electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction on cuprous oxide (Cu2O) derived copper nanoparticles is discussed. Cuprous oxide films with [100], [110] and [111] orientation and variable thickness were electrodeposited by reduction of copper(ii) lactate on commercially available copper plates. After initiation of the electrochemical CO2 reduction by these oxide structures, the selectivity of the process was found to largely depend on the parent Cu2O film thickness, rather than on the initial crystal orientation. Starting with thin Cu2O films, besides CO and hydrogen, selective formation of ethylene is observed with very high ethylene-to-methane ratios (∼8 to 12). In addition to these products, thicker Cu2O films yield a remarkably large amount of ethane. Long term Faradaic efficiency analysis of hydrocarbons shows no sign of deactivation of the electrodes after 5 hours of continuous experiment. Online mass spectroscopy studies combined with X-ray diffraction data suggest the reduction of the Cu2O films in the presence of CO2, generating a nanoparticulate Cu morphology, prior to the production of hydrogen, CO, and hydrocarbons. Optimizing coverage, number density and size of the copper nanoparticles, as well as local surface pH, may allow highly selective formation of the industrially important product ethylene.