Electro-Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Valuable Chemicals in a Membrane Electrode Assembly

Abstract

Electro-conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) into valuable chemicals is an efficient method to deal with excessive CO2 in the atmosphere. However, undesirable CO2 reaction kinetics in the bulk solution strongly limit current density, and thus it is incompetent in market promotion. Flow cell technology provides an insight into uplifting current density. As an efficient flow cell configuration, membrane electrode assembly (MEA) has been proposed and proven as a viable technology for scalable CO2 electro-conversion, promoting current density to several hundred mA/cm2. In this review, we systematically reviewed recent perspectives and methods to put forward the utilization of state-of-the-art MEA to convert CO2 into valuable chemicals. Configuration design, catalysts nature, and flow media were discussed. At the end of this review, we also presented the current challenges and the potential directions for potent MEA design. We hope this review could offer some clear, timely, and valuable insights on the development of MEA for using wastewater-produced CO2.