Review—Electrochemical CO2 Reduction for CO Production: Comparison of Low- and High-Temperature Electrolysis Technologies

Abstract

Recently, the field of CO2 electrolysis has experienced rapid scientific and technological progress. This review focuses specifically on the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO), an important “building block” for the chemicals industry. CO2 electrolysis technologies offer potentially carbon-neutral routes for the production of specialty and commodity chemicals. Many different technologies are actively being pursued. Electrochemical CO2 reduction from aqueous solutions stems from the success of alkaline and polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers for water electrolysis and uses performance metrics established within the field of aqueous electrochemistry. High-temperature CO2 electrolysis systems rely heavily on experience gained from developing molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells, where device performance is evaluated using very different parameters, commonly employed in solid-state electrochemistry. In this review, state-of-the-art low-temperature, molten carbonate, and solid oxide electrolyzers for the production of CO are reviewed, followed by a direct comparison of the three technologies using some of the most common figures of merit from each field. Based on the comparison, high-temperature electrolysis of CO2 in solid oxide electrolysis cells seems to be a particularly attractive method for electrochemical CO production, owing to its high efficiency and proven durability, even at commercially relevant current densities.