Pure-H2O-fed Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction to C2H4 Beyond 1000-hour Stability
AssigneeThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University
InventorsXiaojie SHE, Shu-Ping LAU
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides a pure-H2O-fed membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) electrolysis system for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (ECO2R) to ethylene (C2H4) and C2+ compounds under an industrial applicable continuous flow condition with at least 1000-hour lifetime, and fabrication method thereof.
Claims20
A pure-H2O-fed membrane-electrode assembly electrolysis system for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to ethylene and C2+ compounds under an industrial applicable continuous flow condition with at least 1000-hour lifetime, the system comprising one or more membrane-electrode assemblies each comprising:
- an anode;
- a cathode;
- an anion exchange membrane;
- a proton exchange membrane;
- a step-facet-rich copper catalyst disposed at the cathode, wherein the step-facet-rich copper catalyst has a surface atom coordination number of 7 or lower at Cu (111) exposed facet;
- and
- an electrolyte,
- the cathode being arranged in contact with the anion exchange membrane;
- the anode being arranged in contact with the proton exchange membrane;
- the anion exchange membrane and proton exchange membrane being arranged in contact with each other;
- the electrolyte being selected from pure H2O as proton source for the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction at the cathode under a forward bias mode of the system;
- the anion exchange membrane being selected from alkaline anion exchange membrane;
- and
- the proton exchange membrane being selected from acidic proton exchange membrane.
A method for fabricating a pure-LO-fed membrane-electrode assembly electrolysis system for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to ethylene and C2+ compounds with at least 1000-hour lifetime, comprising:
- providing a step-facet-rich copper catalyst, wherein the step-facet copper catalyst has a surface atom coordination number of 7 or lower at Cu (111) exposed facet;
- preparing a step-facet-rich copper catalyst-containing ink composition for forming a cathode with the step-facet-rich copper catalyst thereon;
- forming the cathode with the step-facet-rich copper catalyst thereon;
- preparing an anode-forming mixture for forming an anode;
- forming the anode from the anode-forming mixture supporting an anode material;
- providing an alkaline anion exchange membrane and an acidic proton exchange membrane between said cathode and anode, the alkaline anion exchange membrane being arranged in contact with the cathode, the acidic proton exchange membrane being arranged in contact with the anode, and the alkaline exchange membrane and acidic proton exchange membrane being in contact with each other, thereby forming a multi-layered structure of the membrane-electrode assembly;
- sandwiching one or more of the membrane-electrode assemblies with two conductive substrates;
- feeding pure H2O as an electrolyte into a container containing the one or more of the membrane-electrode assemblies being sandwiched between the two conductive substrates;
- providing a power supply to the one or more of the membrane-electrode assemblies through the two conductive substrates;
- maintaining the electrolyte at a temperature sufficient for the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to ethylene to last fir at least 1000 hours with no dominant hydrogen evolution reaction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.