Chem. J. Chinese Universities ›› 2022, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (7): 20220238.doi: 10.7503/cjcu20220238

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Progress for the Role of Electrolytes in the CO2 Electrochemical Reduction

PENG Kuilin1,2, LI Guilin1, JIANG Chongyang1,2, ZENG Shaojuan1,3, ZHANG Xiangping1,2,3()   

  1. 1.Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process,Institute of Process Engineering,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100190,China
    2.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China
    3.Advanced Energy Science and Technology Guangdong Laboratory,Huizhou 516007,China
  • Received:2022-04-14 Online:2022-07-10 Published:2022-06-06
  • Contact: ZHANG Xiangping E-mail:xpzhang@ipe.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2020YFA0710200);the Key Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China(21838010);the Chinese Academy of Sciences International Cooperation Program(122111KYSB20190029)

Abstract:

CO2 emissions lead to serious greenhouse effect. However, as an important carbon resource, conversion of CO2 into useful chemicals by electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction(CO2RR) have attracted much attention due to mild reaction conditions, adjustable reaction products, and effective utilization of distributed electric energy. In the electrochemical reaction systems, electrolyte as the reaction medium can provide protons and reaction microenvironment and affect the molecule/ion transportation. Therefore, the construction of new electrolyte systems plays an important role in improving product selectivity and current density for CO2RR. This paper mainly reviews recent research progress of the role of electrolytes for the CO2RR, and summarizes emphatically the effects of ions(alkali metal ions, halide ions, etc.) in aqueous solutions and ionic liquid electrolytes on CO2 solubility, interfacial electric double layer structures(pH value, electric field effect), and intermediate stability. This paper reveals the influence mechanism of the electrolytes on the selectivity of reaction products and current density, which provide guidance for the design of new electrolyte systems for the CO2RR.

Key words: CO2 Electrochemical reduction, Microscopic interaction mechanism, Aqueous electrolyte, Ionic liquids

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