Enhancement of CO2RR product formation on Cu-ZnO-based electrodes by varying ink formulation and post-treatment methods
Theresa Jaster,
Simon Albers,
Armin Leonhard,
Mena-Alexander Kräenbring,
Heiko Lohmann,
Barbara Zeidler-Fandrich,
Fatih Özcan,
Doris Segets,
Ulf-Peter Apfel
Affiliations
Theresa Jaster
Department of Energy, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT , Osterfelder Str. 3, 46047 Oberhausen, Germany; Inorganic Chemistry I, Ruhr University Bochum , Universitätsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Simon Albers
Department of Energy, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT , Osterfelder Str. 3, 46047 Oberhausen, Germany
Armin Leonhard
Department of Energy, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT , Osterfelder Str. 3, 46047 Oberhausen, Germany
Institute for Energy and Materials Processes—Particle Science and Technology (EMPI-PST), University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) , Carl-Benz-Str. 199, Duisburg 47057, Germany
Heiko Lohmann
Department of Energy, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT , Osterfelder Str. 3, 46047 Oberhausen, Germany
Barbara Zeidler-Fandrich
Department of Energy, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT , Osterfelder Str. 3, 46047 Oberhausen, Germany
Institute for Energy and Materials Processes—Particle Science and Technology (EMPI-PST), University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) , Carl-Benz-Str. 199, Duisburg 47057, Germany
Institute for Energy and Materials Processes—Particle Science and Technology (EMPI-PST), University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) , Carl-Benz-Str. 199, Duisburg 47057, Germany; Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE), University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) , Carl-Benz-Straße 199, Duisburg 47057, Germany
Department of Energy, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT , Osterfelder Str. 3, 46047 Oberhausen, Germany; Inorganic Chemistry I, Ruhr University Bochum , Universitätsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Numerous catalysts have been reported with enhanced performance, e.g. longer lifetime and improved selectivity, for the electrochemical CO _2 reduction reaction (CO _2 RR). Respectively little is, however, known about the influence of the electrode structuring and pre-treatment on this reaction for catalytic layers. Thus, we herein report on the modification of the catalyst environment of a Cu-ZnO-carbon black catalyst by variation of the ink composition and subsequent electrode treatment before performing CO _2 RR. We furthermore provide insight into the impact of different solvents, ionomer, and additives like pore forming agents used for the ink preparation as well as post-treatment steps in terms of pressing and sintering of the generated electrodes on the CO _2 RR performance. Although using the same catalyst for all electrodes, remarkable differences in hydrophobicity, surface morphology, and electrochemical performance with respect to stability and product distribution were observed. Our study reveals the critical role of the catalytic layer assembly aside from using proper catalysts. We furthermore show that the parasitic hydrogen formation and flooding behavior can be lowered and C _2+ product formation can be enhanced when operating in optimized gas diffusion electrodes.
