Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to formic acid: on the road to applicative scale

Abstract

In this context, electrochemical reduction of CO2 is considered one of the more attractive pathway to convert CO2, because the products can be selectively controlled by changing the operative conditions of the electrolysis. In the last years, an increasing attention has been devoted on the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to formic acid in water [2,3]. The main hurdle of the reduction of CO2 from water solution is the low CO2 solubility in water. In this work, the effect of some operating parameters, including pressure, current density, and flow rate, on the conversion of CO2 at tin flat cathodes to formic acid was studied using a pressurized filter-press cell with a continuous recirculation of the solution (0.9 L).