TY - JOUR
T1 - Pulsed electrochemical synthesis of formate using Pb electrodes
AU - Blom, Martijn J.W.
AU - Smulders, Vera
AU - van Swaaij, Wim P.M.
AU - Kersten, Sascha R.A.
AU - Mul, Guido
PY - 2020/7/5
Y1 - 2020/7/5
N2 - Lead cathodes show decreasing Faradaic Efficiency (FE) in electrochemical conversion of CO2 to formate, favoring hydrogen, within minutes of operation in KHCO3 electrolyte at −1 to −1.3 V vs RHE. Periodic anodic polarization (pulsed electrochemistry) is demonstrated to result in a high time-averaged FE towards formate. Specifically, an anodic polarization time of 0.1–1 s is sufficient to obtain a Pb-surface providing an averaged formate FE of 30–50%, when the cathodic polarization time is limited to a few seconds. A Pourbaix diagram and Raman spectra are provided, which show that PbCO3 is formed on the surface of the cathode in KHCO3 electrolyte at anodic potential (0.05 V vs RHE), which compound is likely inducing the high FE towards formate. Our method thus provides a means to operate Pb electrodes in electrochemical CO2 reduction with high stability, at a low energy penalty.
AB - Lead cathodes show decreasing Faradaic Efficiency (FE) in electrochemical conversion of CO2 to formate, favoring hydrogen, within minutes of operation in KHCO3 electrolyte at −1 to −1.3 V vs RHE. Periodic anodic polarization (pulsed electrochemistry) is demonstrated to result in a high time-averaged FE towards formate. Specifically, an anodic polarization time of 0.1–1 s is sufficient to obtain a Pb-surface providing an averaged formate FE of 30–50%, when the cathodic polarization time is limited to a few seconds. A Pourbaix diagram and Raman spectra are provided, which show that PbCO3 is formed on the surface of the cathode in KHCO3 electrolyte at anodic potential (0.05 V vs RHE), which compound is likely inducing the high FE towards formate. Our method thus provides a means to operate Pb electrodes in electrochemical CO2 reduction with high stability, at a low energy penalty.
KW - Deactivation
KW - Electrochemical CO reduction
KW - Formate
KW - Periodic anodic polarization
KW - Pulsed electrochemistry
KW - 22/2 OA procedure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076248379&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118420
DO - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118420
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85076248379
SN - 0926-3373
VL - 268
JO - Applied catalysis B: environmental
JF - Applied catalysis B: environmental
M1 - 118420
ER -
