Citation: Zekun Zhang, Shiji Li, Qian Zhang, Shanshan Li, Liu Yang, Wei Yan, Hao Xu. Further study of CO₂ electrochemical reduction to gas products on Cu: Influence of the electrolyte[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2025, 36(9): 110742. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2024.110742 shu

Further study of CO₂ electrochemical reduction to gas products on Cu: Influence of the electrolyte

Zekun Zhang ^a ,
Shiji Li ^a ,
Qian Zhang ^a ,
Shanshan Li ^{a, b, *,} ,
Liu Yang ^a ,
Wei Yan ^{a, b} ,
Hao Xu ^{a, *,}

a.
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
b.
Xi'an Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Recycling and Resource Recovery, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China

Received Date: 17 June 2024
Revised Date: 22 October 2024
Accepted Date: 9 December 2024
Available Online: 10 December 2024

Figures(4)

Current research in the direction of electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ (ECO₂R) focuses on the preparation of catalysts with excellent performance, but little has been reported on the effect of electrolyte type on the selectivity of ECO₂R gas products. In this work, the ECO₂R performance of unmodified Cu foam (CF) was systematically investigated in four electrolytes (KCl, NaCl, KHCO₃, and NaHCO₃) at different concentrations (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mol/L), using CF as the working electrode. The results showed that CF exhibited high selectivity for C₂H₄ in KCl solution, while high selectivity for CH₄ in low concentration NaCl and NaHCO₃ solutions containing Na⁺. In addition, serious hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) were observed in both KHCO₃ and NaHCO₃ solutions at higher concentrations, which were attributed to the lower local pH of the two buffer solutions. It was also shown that solution resistance of the cathode electrolyte during ECO₂R process decreased consistently due to the trans-membrane diffusion of K⁺ and Na⁺, especially at the low concentration of electrolyte of 0.1 mol/L. It was detrimental to keep the reduction process stabilized for a long period of time. Furthermore, the non-buffered solutions KCl and NaCl also maintained a neutral pH (≈ 6.7) after a period of ECO₂R, resulting in a stable ECO₂R. The results of this work will provide significant insights into the design of reaction systems of ECO₂R in the future.
- Electrocatalytic,
- CO₂ reduction,
- Electrolyte,
- Gas products,
- Copper foam
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沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142

Further study of CO2 electrochemical reduction to gas products on Cu: Influence of the electrolyte

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Further study of CO₂ electrochemical reduction to gas products on Cu: Influence of the electrolyte