TY - JOUR
T1 - Electrochemical conversion of CO2 to useful chemicals
T2 - Current status, remaining challenges, and future opportunities
AU - Jhong, Huei Ru Molly
AU - Ma, Sichao
AU - Kenis, Paul Ja
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Department of Energy ( DE-FG02005ER46260 ), the Department of Energy through an STTR grant to Dioxide Materials and UIUC ( DE-SC0004453 ), the National Science Foundation ( CTS 05-47617 ), and the International Institute of Carbon Neutral Energy Research ( WPI-I2CNER ), sponsored by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) , MEXT, Japan. We also would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful input and Steven R Caliari for stimulating discussions.
PY - 2013/5
Y1 - 2013/5
N2 - The rise of atmospheric CO2 levels must be slowed, or better reverted, to avoid further undesirable climate change. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 into value-added chemicals using renewable energy is one approach to help address this problem as it will recycle 'spent' CO2 (carbon neutral cycle) and it provides a method to store or utilize otherwise wasted excess renewable energy from intermittent sources, both reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Current electrolysis cells accomplish either high Faradaic efficiency (often >95% selectivity) for a desired product (e.g. CO), or reasonable current density (conversion), whereas both need to be high for a commercial process. This review will discuss current status and opportunities for catalyst design, electrolyte choice, and electrode structure.
AB - The rise of atmospheric CO2 levels must be slowed, or better reverted, to avoid further undesirable climate change. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 into value-added chemicals using renewable energy is one approach to help address this problem as it will recycle 'spent' CO2 (carbon neutral cycle) and it provides a method to store or utilize otherwise wasted excess renewable energy from intermittent sources, both reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Current electrolysis cells accomplish either high Faradaic efficiency (often >95% selectivity) for a desired product (e.g. CO), or reasonable current density (conversion), whereas both need to be high for a commercial process. This review will discuss current status and opportunities for catalyst design, electrolyte choice, and electrode structure.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.coche.2013.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.coche.2013.03.005
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84878359791
SN - 2211-3398
VL - 2
SP - 191
EP - 199
JO - Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering
JF - Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering
IS - 2
ER -