Achieving order of magnitude increases in CO2 reduction reaction efficiency by product separations and recycling

Abstract

CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) systems are the heart of many proposed e-refinery schemes. There have been few studies on the separation systems that will be needed to complement CO₂RR reactors. We show that by strategic use of downstream separations and recycling of unreacted CO₂, the efficiency of CO₂RR can be significantly improved without changes in the electrochemical reactor.