CO2 reduction on gas-diffusion electrodes and why catalytic performance must be assessed at commercially-relevant conditions

Abstract

Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction has the dual-promise of neutralizing carbon emissions in the near future, while providing a long-term pathway to create energy-dense chemicals and fuels from atmospheric CO₂. The field has advanced immensely in recent years, taking significant strides towards commercial realization. Catalyst innovations have played a pivotal role in these advances, with a steady stream of new catalysts providing gains in CO₂ conversion efficiencies and selectivities of both C1 and C2 products. Comparatively few of these catalysts have been tested at commercially-relevant current densities (∼200 mA cm⁻²) due to transport limitations in traditional testing configurations and a research focus on fundamental catalyst kinetics, which are measured at substantially lower current densities. A catalyst's selectivity and activity, however, have been shown to be highly sensitive to the local reaction environment, which changes drastically as a function of reaction rate. As a consequence of this, the surface properties of many CO₂ reduction catalysts risk being optimized for the wrong operating conditions. The goal of this perspective is to communicate the substantial impact of reaction rate on catalytic behaviour and the operation of gas-diffusion layers for the CO₂ reduction reaction. In brief, this work motivates high current density catalyst testing as a necessary step to properly evaluate materials for electrochemical CO₂ reduction, and to accelerate the technology toward its envisioned application of neutralizing CO₂ emissions on a global scale.