NSERC I2I Phase 1: Local regeneration of CO2 to achieve scalable electroreduction to multi-carbon products

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The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) converts CO2 emissions into fuels and chemical feedstocks. When powered by renewable energy sources, the technology provides a carbon neutral or negative alternative production pathway for fuels and feedstock chemicals. The electrochemical production of multi-carbon (C2+) products, such as ethylene and ethanol, from CO2 has attracted much attention due to the large addressable markets, high energy density of these molecules, and large emission avoidance potential. To produce these renewable C2+ chemicals and fuels in a commercial implementation, the electrolyzers and contained components (including the catalyst, membrane, and electrode materials) must be designed to achieve high product selectivity (ie. Faradaic efficiency), high reaction rates (100s mA/cm2), high energy efficiency (low voltages), high stability (1000s of h), and high utilization of the CO2 feedstock in the reactor. While much progress has been achieved in selectivity, reaction rates, and energy efficiency in laboratory scale CO2 electrolyzers, there has been little attention towardCO2 utilization - typically, only a small fraction of the CO2 fed into the reactors is converted into products. This inefficient utilization requires an unfeasible amount of CO2 separation and feedstock costs. Our new permeable CO2 recycling layer (PCRL) incorporated membrane electrode assembly (MEA) reactor has enabled a record >90% single pass CO2 utilization (SPU) toward CO2 reduction products. This grant will enable the development of a scaled-up prototype of the next-generation PCRL MEA with extended stability due to new materials, as well as improved selectivity, energy efficiency, and SPU metrics that outperform existing CO2 to C2+ electrolyzers. These results and improvements to the technology will attract strategic partnerships and investments needed to accelerate the translation of this platform to commercialization.