High‐Concentration Alcohol Generation in Bipolar Membrane CO Electrolyzer
Abstract
Abstract Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide offers an electricity‐powered route to make multicarbon liquid products. However, in conventional systems employing anion exchange membranes (AEMs), significant liquid product crossover leads to dilute product streams, increasing separation costs; and also produces unwanted anodic oxidation, further decreasing overall efficiency. Here, we report a forward‐biased bipolar membrane (FB‐BPM) system that achieves <10% liquid product crossover while sustaining a highly alkaline environment near the cathode, suppressing ethylene and hydrogen and favoring liquid products. By tuning catalyst composition to modulate the adsorption of *H and *OH, we steer selectivity toward acetate and alcohols. Using the FB‐BPM system, we achieve >25 wt% acetate on CuZn and >15 wt% alcohols on CuSn directly from the cathode outlet stream.
Article Details
Authors (23)
Wenjin Zhu
Qiu‐Cheng Chen
Department of Chemistry and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
Yiqing Chen
Department of Chemistry
Jianan Erick Huang
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Guangcan Su
Department of Chemistry
Hengzhou Liu
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University
Weiyan Ni
State Key Laboratory of Synergistic Chem-Bio Synthesis and Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Chiral Drugs, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Yuanjun Chen
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
Jiaqi Yu
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
Bosi Peng
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
Jiantao Li
Sungsik Lee
X-ray Science Division
Shaoyun Hao
Yuxia Shen
Department of Chemistry and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
Huajie Ze
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
Bei Zhou
Xiao‐Yan Li
Department of Chemistry and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
Yali Ji
Department of Chemistry and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA
Shuang Yang
Micro−Nano Engineering Sciences Research Center, School of Mechanical Engineering
Cong Tian
Yongxiang Liang
College of New Energy and Materials
Ke Xie
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
Edward H. Sargent