TY - JOUR
T1 - Carbon monoxide electroreduction as an emerging platform for carbon utilization
AU - Jouny, Matthew
AU - Hutchings, Gregory S.
AU - Jiao, Feng
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - The electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to value-added chemical products has been heavily explored as a promising strategy for carbon utilization. However, the direct synthesis of multi-carbon (C2+) products suffers from undesired side reactions and relatively low selectivity. Electrochemically converting CO2 to single-carbon products is much more effective and being commercially deployed. Recent studies have shown that CO can be electrochemically transformed further to C2+ at high reaction rates, high C2+ selectivity and inherently improved electrolyte stability, raising the prospect of a two-step pathway to transform CO2. In this Perspective, the progress towards high-rate CO conversion is shown alongside mechanistic insights and device designs that can improve performance even further. A techno-economic analysis of the two-step conversion process and cradle-to-gate lifecycle assessment shows the economic feasibility and improved environmental impact of a high-volume commercial process generating acetic acid and ethylene compared to the current state of the art.
AB - The electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to value-added chemical products has been heavily explored as a promising strategy for carbon utilization. However, the direct synthesis of multi-carbon (C2+) products suffers from undesired side reactions and relatively low selectivity. Electrochemically converting CO2 to single-carbon products is much more effective and being commercially deployed. Recent studies have shown that CO can be electrochemically transformed further to C2+ at high reaction rates, high C2+ selectivity and inherently improved electrolyte stability, raising the prospect of a two-step pathway to transform CO2. In this Perspective, the progress towards high-rate CO conversion is shown alongside mechanistic insights and device designs that can improve performance even further. A techno-economic analysis of the two-step conversion process and cradle-to-gate lifecycle assessment shows the economic feasibility and improved environmental impact of a high-volume commercial process generating acetic acid and ethylene compared to the current state of the art.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85076610025
U2 - 10.1038/s41929-019-0388-2
DO - 10.1038/s41929-019-0388-2
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85076610025
SN - 2520-1158
VL - 2
SP - 1062
EP - 1070
JO - Nature Catalysis
JF - Nature Catalysis
IS - 12
ER -