Electrolyzer for gaseous carbon dioxide

Abstract

An electrochemical device and method can include techniques involving bipolar membrane electrolysis to transform an input product into an output product. Some embodiments can include a gas-diffusion electrode as a cathode, a bipolar membrane configured to facilitate autodissociation, and an anode that can be configured as a liquid-electrolyte style electrode or a gas-diffusion electrode. In some embodiments the electrochemical device can be configured as a CO₂ electrolyzer that is designed to utilize input product including carbon dioxide gas and water to generate output products that can include gaseous carbon monoxide or other reduction products of carbon dioxide and gaseous oxygen or the oxidation products of a depolarizer such as hydrogen, methane, or methanol. Embodiments can be utilized in the production of fuels or feedstocks for fuels and carbon-containing chemicals, in air purification systems, flue gas treatment devices, and other machines and facilities.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This patent application is related to and claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 577,357 filed on Oct. 26, 2017, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT[0002]This invention was made with government support under Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER15911 awarded by the Department of Energy. The Government has certain rights in the invention.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0003]Embodiments can relate to an electrochemical device capable of gas phase electrolysis and bipolar membrane electrolysis.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0004]Conventional electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide systems and methods can be appreciated from U.S. Pat. No. 9,481,939, U.S. Pat. No. 9,181,625, U.S. Pat. No. 9,085,827, U.S. Pat. Publ. No. 2017 / 0183789, U.S. Pat. Publ. No. 2013 / 0118911, and Pat. Publ. No. CN 102912374. Conventional systems may be ineff...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]With some embodiments, introduction of input product as a gas can allow for reaction products to be generated in the gas phase. This may also allow for collection of output product in the gas phase. These gas phase products can eliminate the need to provide product separation techniques, as no product is being dissolved in a liquid electrolyte solution. As no reactant is being dissolved in a liquid electrolyte solution, the reactants are not caused to transport through a liquid, which can improve upon the transport rate of chemical species within the electrochemical device.

[0008]Some embodiments can include use of a bipolar membrane. Embodiments of the bipolar membrane can be used to s

Problems solved by technology

Conventional systems may be inefficient, have poor stability, and/or have difficulty in separating reaction products f

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