Recently, Nature Energy published a research paper titled "Pure water fed electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to ethylene beyond 1000 h stability at 10 A" (Nat. Energy, 2024, 9:81-91). This work was jointly completed by Jiangsu University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Oxford University and other units. Professor She Xiaojie from our Energy Research Institute is the first author, and Professor Xu Hui, the dean of our institute, Professor Liu Shuping and Professor Zhu Ye from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor Zeng Shizhi from Oxford University are co corresponding authors.
The renewable energy driven electrocatalytic CO2 reduction technology (ECO2R), as an important resource utilization technology in the context of "dual carbon", has attracted widespread attention due to its advantages of producing high value-added chemicals, achieving carbon cycling, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This research paper aims to improve the stability and durability of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction systems by addressing challenges such as carbonate formation and electrolyte loss. By constructing high-performance Cu based catalysts with grain boundary and stacking faults, the C-C coupling reaction is strengthened, and the selectivity of ethylene products in mobile phase electrolysis cells exceeds 80%; At the same time, a membrane electrode system supplied with pure water was developed, ultimately achieving stability of the ECO2R system for up to 1000 hours under operating conditions, without loss of CO2 and electrolyte, effectively solving the carbonate deposition problem that troubles the ECO2R field. This research work has effectively promoted the practical application of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction technology and actively promoted its industrialization with related enterprises.
In recent years, Professor Xu Hui's team has focused on CO2 photocatalytic and electrocatalytic conversion and resource utilization technologies, and has been approved for more than 10 scientific research projects such as the National Key R&D Program and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. They have published over 30 high-quality papers and have had a positive impact on their peers both domestically and internationally.
This work has received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. (Energy Research Institute, School of Environmental and Safety Engineering)
Article link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-023-01415-4
