Seminars Archive

CO₂ electroreduction: design of a viable way for hydrocarbon production by electrocatalysis

Abstract
The conversion of carbon dioxide to fuels and chemicals is a technology potentially capable of controlling the atmospheric levels of CO₂ and promote the storage of excess renewable energy. In particular, the use of copper as electrocatalyst for the carbon dioxide conversion give access to a variety of hydrocarbon products with interesting faradaic efficiencies. Furthermore, the possibility to swap the classical water oxidation anode with an alcohol oxidation anode (in alkaline media) leads to a dramatic reduction of the operating potentials, and hence, of the energy consumptions. The key advantage of the complete system, equipped with a copper-phtalocyanine-based cathode, an alkaline exchange membrane and a Pd@Ti_anode , is represented by the possibility to produce useful levels of hydrocarbons (mainly CH₄ and C₂H₄) with lower energy consumptions (77 kWh vs. 130 kWh per kg of hydrocarbon mixture) when compared with the cell relying on a water oxidation anode[1]. In addition, the alcohol oxidation anode, operating in alkaline conditions, produces useful feedstock such as acetate. Therefore, the complete system is able to produce hydrocarbons from CO₂ and useful chemicals by electrocatalysis.

[1] M. Bevilacqua, J. Filippi, A. Lavacchi, A. Marchionni, H. A. Miller, W. Oberhauser, E. Vesselli, F. Vizza, “Energy Savings in the Conversion of CO₂ to Fuels using an Electrolytic Device”, Energy Technology, 2(6), (2014), 522-525