Electrolytic cell engineering and device optimization for electrosynthesis of e-biofuels via co-valorisation of bio-feedstocks and captured CO2

Utilizing CO2 in an electro-chemical process and synthesizing value-added chemicals are amongst the few viable and scalable pathways in carbon capture and utilization technologies. CO2 electro-reduction is also counted as one of the main options entailing less fossil fuel consumption and as a future electrical energy storage strategy. The current study aims at developing a new electrochemical platform to produce low-carbon e-biofuel through multifunctional electrosynthesis and integrated co-valorisation of biomass feedstocks with captured CO2. In this approach, CO2 is reduced at the cathode to produce drop-in fuels (e.g., methanol) while value-added chemicals (e.g., selective oxidation of alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids and amines/amides) are produced at the anode. In this work, a numerical model of a continuous-flow design considering various anodic and cathodic reactions was built to determine the most techno-economically feasible configurations from the aspects of energy efficiency, environment impact and economical values. The reactor design was then optimized via parametric analysis.

Automated summary

The study focuses on developing a new electrochemical platform to produce low-carbon e-biofuel through the integrated co-valorisation of biomass feedstocks with captured CO2. The approach involves reducing CO2 at the cathode to produce drop-in fuels while generating value-added chemicals at the anode. The reactor design was optimized using a numerical model and parametric analysis to determine the most feasible configurations in terms of energy efficiency, environmental impact, and economic values.