Promoting Electrolysis of Carbon Monoxide toward Acetate and 1-Propanol in Flow Electrolyzer

Acetic acid/acetate is an important precursor for many chemical manufacturing sectors, as well as a feedstock for the microbial synthesis of value-added biofuel and biomass products. As the downstream reaction in tandem with the carbon dioxide reduction reaction, carbon monoxide electrolysis has a unique advantage over direct carbon dioxide reduction, boosting the selectivity for multicarbon products. However, highly selective and high-current-throughput acetate and 1propanol production from CO electrolysis is yet to be explored. Herein, we present practical approaches for improving acetate and 1-propanol selectivity and yield from CO electrolysis using a commercial copper catalyst. Acetate showed a strong pH dependence with an optimum performance at 90% Faradaic efficiency and 128 mA cm(-2) current density. In addition, 1-propanol showed a strong catalyst loading dependence, achieving 20% Faradaic efficiency under high-catalyst-loading conditions. In situ Raman and Multiphysics modeling further demonstrated the mechanism of the improvements.

Automated summary

Acetic acid/acetate is an important precursor for chemical manufacturing and biofuel synthesis. Carbon monoxide electrolysis can enhance the selectivity for multicarbon products, and this research explores practical approaches to improve acetate and 1-propanol selectivity and yield using a copper catalyst. The pH and catalyst loading were found to strongly influence the performance, and in situ Raman and multiphysics modeling provided insights into the mechanism of improvement.