Co-electrolysis of CO2 and H2O: From electrode reactions to cell-level development

The electroreduction of CO2 into value-added products (e.g. CO) constitutes an excellent means of decreasing this greenhouse gas emissions, but limited efforts have been devoted to the implementation of this reaction within the so-called co-electrolysis cells operating at process-relevant currents >> 100 mA.cm(geom)(-2). Reaching such performances shall require a combination of gas-fed reactants and the corresponding diffusion electrodes, along with ion-exchange membranes and ionomers that set the operative pH at the cells' cathode and anode. The latter constitutes a key design parameter that must be combined with the need to minimize the crossover of reaction products and/or (bi)carbonate anions from the cathode to the anode, whereby their reoxidation to carbon dioxide leads to a decrease in the device's net CO2 consumption.