화학공학소재연구정보센터
Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.93, No.1, 55-62, 2015
Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 in an Aqueous Electrolyte Employing an Iridium/Ruthenium-Oxide Electrode
Electrochemical reduction of CO2 in an aqueous electrolyte (Briton Robinson buffer, pH=5.82) was investigated using an Ir/Ru-oxide coating deposited on a titanium substrate, as a function of electrode potential and temperature. The results demonstrated that the Ir/Ru-oxide electrode can efficiently be used for the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into different valuable organic molecules at high faradaic efficiency, 85% and 96% at 295K and 277K, respectively. Ethanol was found to be the major electrochemical reduction product remained in the liquid phase, with a minor contribution of methanol, acetone and acetaldehyde. The amount of formed products and the corresponding faradaic efficiency were found to be strongly dependent on electrode potential. A maximum in both was obtained at -1.7V (vs. MSE). At this potential, lowering the reaction temperature from 295K to 277K was found to increase the CO2 reduction kinetics only at short electrolysis times, while the corresponding faradaic efficiency increased significantly. The presented work demonstrates that the Ir/Ru-oxide electrode can be considered as a good electrode candidate for the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into usable organic molecules at atmospheric pressure and in aqueous electrolytes.