Open AccessAn Online Gas Chromatography Cell Setup for Accurate CO2-Electroreduction Product Quantification
Author(s) -
Justus S. Diercks,
Bernhard Pribyl-Kranewitter,
Juan Herranz,
Piyush Chauhan,
Antoine Faisnel,
Thomas J. Schmidt
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of the electrochemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.258
H-Index - 271
eISSN - 1945-7111
pISSN - 0013-4651
DOI - 10.1149/1945-7111/ac0363
Subject(s) - selectivity , electrochemistry , electrode , electrolyte , catalysis , nanoparticle , electrochemical cell , chemistry , reduction (mathematics) , surface area to volume ratio , nanotechnology , materials science , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , geometry , mathematics , engineering
The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) constitutes an increasingly important scientific topic and research on novel electrocatalysts for this demanding reaction is constantly increasing. One of the most important properties to be inferred for such electrocatalysts is their product selectivity and potential dependence thereof. However, the wide range of materials currently employed in CO 2 electroreduction (e.g., Ag, Cu, Pd) entails a large variety of gaseous and/or liquid reaction products for which accurate quantification implies a major challenge. With this motivation, in this study we present an online gas chromatography cell setup specifically designed for the accurate and reproducible determination of the product selectivities of CO 2 -reduction electrocatalysts. Therewith, we assess the parameters influencing the cell’s performance and point out important design features, such as reproducible electrode alignment, minimized contact resistances and a low ratio among electrolyte volume and the electrodes’ geometrical surface area. The setup was validated by performing measurements on a Pt nanoparticle catalyst for which H 2 is the only expected reduction product, while a Pd nanoparticle catalyst was subsequently used to verify its capabilities for CO 2 electroreduction selectivity measurements involving multiple liquid and gaseous products.