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Electrocatalysis

Engineering the catalyst microenvironment

Nature Synthesis volume 2, pages 389–390 (2023)Cite this article

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A heterogeneous catalyst adlayer for CO2 reduction is reported which suppresses H2 evolution and promotes multicarbon product formation in strong acid. The resulting electrolyser has a single-pass CO2 conversion efficiency of 45%.

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to multicarbon fuels and commodity chemicals is a promising technology for closing the anthropogenic carbon cycle. Current research in this field aims to maximize conversion of the CO2 stream to target multicarbon products in a single pass through the electrolyser, whilst operating at low voltage and at sufficiently high current densities relevant for industrial application (therefore maintaining high product formation rates)1. The local pH and cation concentration near the electrocatalyst play a major role in this process, and their optimization presents a challenge. Electrolytes with any pH value over the acidic to alkaline range cause undesired reactant loss. More specifically, alkaline and neutral pH lead to the loss of CO2 owing to carbonate formation, acidic electrolytes result in the dominance of proton reduction to H2 over the target CO2 reduction.

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Fig. 1: Adlayer–catalyst interface design for electrochemical reduction of CO2 in acidic media.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Jury Medvedev & Anna Klinkova

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  1. Jury Medvedev
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  2. Anna Klinkova
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Correspondence to Anna Klinkova.

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The authors declare no completing interests.

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Medvedev, J., Klinkova, A. Engineering the catalyst microenvironment. Nat. Synth 2, 389–390 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-023-00274-x

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