CO <sub>2</sub> electrolysis to multicarbon products in strong acid
Jianan Erick Huang, Fengwang Li, Adnan Ozden, Armin Sedighian Rasouli, F. Pelayo Garcı́a de Arquer, Shijie Liu, Shuzhen Zhang, Mingchuan Luo, Xue Wang, Yanwei Lum, Yi Xu, Koen Bertens, Rui Kai Miao, Cao‐Thang Dinh, David Sinton, Edward H. Sargent
Abstract
Potassium helps CO 2 compete in acid Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is a promising means of converting this greenhouse gas into valuable fuels and chemicals. However, two competing reactions restrict the efficiency of this process. In base, much of the CO 2 is trapped as carbonate before reduction; in acid, protons outpace CO 2 at catching electrons from the cathode. Huang et al. report that a high dose of potassium ions can help to solve the latter problem. By concentrating potassium ions at the electrode, high selectivity toward CO 2 reduction at high current in acid is possible, which the authors attribute to electrostatic stabilization of the desired adsorbates. Science , abg6582, this issue p. 1074