(686h) Leveraging Advanced Manufactured Catalysts and Reactors for Electrochemical CO2 Conversion

With the realization of the global impact of waste carbon on the atmosphere, coupled with a clear and growing demand for abundant electricity, there are both environmental and economic driving forces for capturing and electrochemically converting carbon dioxide (CO₂) into high value hydrocarbon products. While much of the recent focus in this area has been driven by catalyst discovery, there is a lack of understanding on how the partnership of the catalyst and the reactor can be optimized for product selectivity and overall performance. The development of novel and optimized electrochemical reactors for this reaction is critically important; to address this gap, we report the use of advanced materials and manufacturing capabilities to design and construct electrocatalysts and electrochemical reactors for CO₂ reduction. We report that by 3D printing structured catalysts and reactors, we can affect catalyst morphology, environment and reaction conditions, and thereby improve performance of Ag and Cu catalysts for electrochemical CO₂ reduction. Our work at LLNL demonstrates our ability to leverage 3D printing and advanced manufacturing as tools to help study and improve catalyst activity, product faradaic efficiency, and overall energy efficiency.