Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 Electrolyzers
Summary: The electrochemical reduction of CO2 is promising for mitigating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; however, voltage instabilities currently inhibit reaching high current densities that are prerequisite for commercialization. Here, for the first time, we elucidate that product gaseous...
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doaj-b8c18e71f3524e2a955f93287b67dde22020-11-25T02:23:30ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422020-05-01235Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 ElectrolyzersChungHyuk Lee0Benzhong Zhao1Jason K. Lee2Kieran F. Fahy3Kevin Krause4Aimy Bazylak5Thermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaThermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, Canada; Department of Civil Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L7, CanadaThermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaThermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaThermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, CanadaThermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, Canada; Corresponding authorSummary: The electrochemical reduction of CO2 is promising for mitigating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; however, voltage instabilities currently inhibit reaching high current densities that are prerequisite for commercialization. Here, for the first time, we elucidate that product gaseous bubble accumulation on the electrode/electrolyte interface is the direct cause of the voltage instability in CO2 electrolyzers. Although bubble formation in water electrolyzers has been extensively studied, we identified that voltage instability caused by bubble formation is unique to CO2 electrolyzers. The appearance of syngas bubbles within the electrolyte at the gas diffusion electrode (GDE)-electrolyte chamber interface (i.e. ∼10% bubble coverage of the GDE surface) was accompanied by voltage oscillations of 60 mV. The presence of syngas in the electrolyte chamber physically inhibited two-phase reaction interfaces, thereby resulting in unstable cell performance. The strategic incorporation of our insights on bubble growth behavior and voltage instability is vital for designing commercially relevant CO2 electrolyzers.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004220302790Electrochemical Energy ProductionMechanical Engineering Interfacial Electrochemistry |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
ChungHyuk Lee Benzhong Zhao Jason K. Lee Kieran F. Fahy Kevin Krause Aimy Bazylak |
spellingShingle |
ChungHyuk Lee Benzhong Zhao Jason K. Lee Kieran F. Fahy Kevin Krause Aimy Bazylak Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 Electrolyzers iScience Electrochemical Energy Production Mechanical Engineering Interfacial Electrochemistry |
author_facet |
ChungHyuk Lee Benzhong Zhao Jason K. Lee Kieran F. Fahy Kevin Krause Aimy Bazylak |
author_sort |
ChungHyuk Lee |
title |
Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 Electrolyzers |
title_short |
Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 Electrolyzers |
title_full |
Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 Electrolyzers |
title_fullStr |
Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 Electrolyzers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bubble Formation in the Electrolyte Triggers Voltage Instability in CO2 Electrolyzers |
title_sort |
bubble formation in the electrolyte triggers voltage instability in co2 electrolyzers |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
iScience |
issn |
2589-0042 |
publishDate |
2020-05-01 |
description |
Summary: The electrochemical reduction of CO2 is promising for mitigating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; however, voltage instabilities currently inhibit reaching high current densities that are prerequisite for commercialization. Here, for the first time, we elucidate that product gaseous bubble accumulation on the electrode/electrolyte interface is the direct cause of the voltage instability in CO2 electrolyzers. Although bubble formation in water electrolyzers has been extensively studied, we identified that voltage instability caused by bubble formation is unique to CO2 electrolyzers. The appearance of syngas bubbles within the electrolyte at the gas diffusion electrode (GDE)-electrolyte chamber interface (i.e. ∼10% bubble coverage of the GDE surface) was accompanied by voltage oscillations of 60 mV. The presence of syngas in the electrolyte chamber physically inhibited two-phase reaction interfaces, thereby resulting in unstable cell performance. The strategic incorporation of our insights on bubble growth behavior and voltage instability is vital for designing commercially relevant CO2 electrolyzers. |
topic |
Electrochemical Energy Production Mechanical Engineering Interfacial Electrochemistry |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004220302790 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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