ABSTRACT
The electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 is studied on a series of electrodes (based on Cu, Co, Fe and Pt metal nanoparticles deposited on carbon nanotubes or carbon black and then placed at the interface between a Nafion membrane and a gas-diffusion-layer electrode) on two types of cells: one operating in the presence of a liquid bulk electrolyte and the other in the absence of the electrolyte (electrolyte-less conditions). The results evidence how the latter conditions allow productivity of about one order of magnitude higher and how to change the type of products formed. Under electrolyte-less conditions, the formation of >C2 products such as acetone and isopropanol is observed, but not in liquid-phase cell operations on the same electrodes. The relative order of productivity in CO2 electrocatalytic reduction in the series of electrodes investigated is also different between the two types of cells. The implications of these results in terms of possible differences in the reaction mechanism are commented on, as well as in terms of the design of photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) solar cells.
ABSTRACT
Catalytic partial oxidation coupled with membrane purification is a new process scheme to improve resource and energy efficiency in a well-established and large scale-process like syngas production. Experimentation in a semi industrial-scale unit (20â Nm(3) h(-1) production) shows that a novel syngas production scheme based on a pre-reforming stage followed by a membrane for hydrogen separation, a catalytic partial oxidation step, and a further step of syngas purification by membrane allows the oxygen-to-carbon ratio to be decreased while maintaining levels of feed conversion. For a total feed conversion of 40 %, for example, the integrated novel architecture reduces oxygen consumption by over 50 %, with thus a corresponding improvement in resource efficiency and an improved energy efficiency and economics, these factors largely depending on the air separation stage used to produce pure oxygen.
