US 12,134,826 B2
CO2 electroreduction to multi-carbon products in strong acid
Jianan Erick Huang, Toronto (CA); Fengwang Li, Toronto (CA); Adnan Ozden, Toronto (CA); David Sinton, Toronto (CA); and Edward Sargent, Toronto (CA)
Assigned to TOTALENERGIES ONETECH, Courbevoie (FR); and THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, Toronto (CA)
Appl. No. 18/279,453
Filed by TOTALENERGIES ONETECH, Courbevoie (FR); and THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, Toronto (CA)
PCT Filed Mar. 4, 2022, PCT No. PCT/EP2022/055570
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 30, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/184905, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 9, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/200,393, filed on Mar. 4, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 102678 (LU), filed on Mar. 22, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0093390 A1, Mar. 21, 2024
Int. Cl. C25B 11/081 (2021.01); C25B 3/26 (2021.01); C25B 13/08 (2006.01); C25B 15/031 (2021.01)
CPC C25B 11/081 (2021.01) [C25B 3/26 (2021.01); C25B 13/08 (2013.01); C25B 15/031 (2021.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An electrolytic system for CO2 electroreduction into multicarbon (C2+) products, the system comprising:
a cathode being an electrode for CO2 electroreduction, the electrode comprising a substrate, a metal-based catalyst material and a cation-augmenting material, the cathode being provided in a catholyte chamber;
a catholyte being contained in the catholyte chamber for contacting the cathode, said catholyte being an acidic catholyte comprising cation species; wherein the cation-augmenting material comprises an acid group exchanging protons with the cation species of the acid catholyte so as to increase a concentration of the cation species at the surface of the electrode and wherein the acidic catholyte is a strong acid having a pH of at most 1 and comprising phosphoric acid;
an anode being provided in an anolyte chamber;
an anolyte being contained in the anolyte chamber for contacting the anode;
a cationic exchange membrane;
a cathodic inlet in fluid communication with the cathode so as to feed the cathode with a gas component comprising CO2; and
a cathodic outlet in fluid communication the catholyte chamber so as to recover a product mixture comprising multicarbon (C2+) products;
the system being characterized in that the cation species comprises one or more alkali metal ions, said alkali metal of said one or more alkali metal ions being selected from the group consisting of potassium, caesium and sodium, and the acidic catholyte further comprises at least one of chloride, phosphate monobasic, sulfate, iodide, and hydroxide of the selected alkali metal ions, in that the catholyte has an alkali metal ion concentration between 0.5 M and 5 M; and in that the catholyte has a total concentration in phosphorous species ranging between 0.8 M and 1.2 M.