Particles and Catalysis Research Group, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
ChemSusChem. 2017 Nov 23;10(22):4342-4358. doi: 10.1002/cssc.201701631. Epub 2017 Nov 10.
Rising levels of CO accumulation in the atmosphere have attracted considerable interest in technologies capable of CO capture, storage and conversion. The electrochemical reduction of CO into high-value liquid organic products could be of vital importance to mitigate this issue. The conversion of CO into liquid fuels by using photovoltaic cells, which can readily be integrated in the current infrastructure, will help realize the creation of a sustainable cycle of carbon-based fuel that will promote zero net CO emissions. Despite promising findings, significant challenges still persist that must be circumvented to make the technology profitable for large-scale utilization. With such possibilities, this Minireview presents the current high-performing catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of CO to liquid hydrocarbons, address the limitations and unify the current understanding of the different reaction mechanisms. The Minireview also explores current research directions to improve process efficiencies and production rate and discusses the scope of using photo-assisted electrochemical reduction systems to find stable, highly efficient catalysts that can harvest solar energy directly to convert CO into liquid hydrocarbons.
大气中 CO 积累水平的上升引起了人们对能够捕获、储存和转化 CO 的技术的极大兴趣。将 CO 电化学还原为高价值的液体有机产品对于缓解这一问题可能至关重要。利用光伏电池将 CO 转化为液体燃料，这些电池可以很容易地集成到当前的基础设施中，这将有助于实现基于碳的燃料的可持续循环，从而促进零净 CO 排放。尽管有很有前景的发现，但仍存在重大挑战，必须克服这些挑战才能使该技术在大规模利用方面具有盈利性。有鉴于此，本综述介绍了用于 CO 电化学还原为液体烃的当前高性能催化剂，讨论了不同反应机制的局限性和统一性。本综述还探讨了提高工艺效率和生产速率的当前研究方向，并讨论了使用光辅助电化学还原系统寻找稳定、高效催化剂的范围，这些催化剂可以直接利用太阳能将 CO 转化为液体烃。
