Toward Scalable Solutions for Silver‐Based Gas Diffusion Electrode Fabrication for the Electrochemical Conversion of CO 2 – A Perspective

Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 36

Abstract

Abstract The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (eCO 2 R) has attracted considerable research interest in recent years due to its potential application in decarbonizing industry and transportation. Silver‐based gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) are one of the most promising cathode variants for electrolysis at industrially relevant current densities, producing carbon monoxide (CO) with high Faradaic efficiencies (FE). A major challenge on the way to commercialization of the technology is the scale‐up of the cathode designs. In this study, a systematic literature review of the published work on eCO 2 R in the past decade (2015–2025) is performed to identify the main techniques for the fabrication of silver‐based GDEs and the design and performance of the corresponding electrodes are summarized. The fabrication methods in terms of scalability is compared and an overview of recent scaling efforts is provided. Based on the findings, a perspective is provided on the main challenges of scaling eCO 2 R and viable solutions are discussed. In addition, recent advances in physics‐based and data‐driven modeling of eCO 2 R are reviewed and discussed to give a perspective on how modeling coupled with experimental work benefits the accelerated development and paves the way for industrial deployment of CO 2 electrolyzers.

Authors 7

1. Simon Emken Aachen Institute of Physical Chemistry

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

   Institute of Physical Chemistry RWTH Aachen University 52062 Aachen Germany

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

2. K. Ashoke Raman

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

3. Alexander Bauer corresponding

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

4. Violeta Karyofylli

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

5. Eva Jodat

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

6. André Karl

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

7. Rüdiger‐A. Eichel Aachen Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Institute of Physical Chemistry

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Mechanical Engineering RWTH Aachen University 52062 Aachen Germany

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany

   Institute of Physical Chemistry RWTH Aachen University 52062 Aachen Germany

   Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, 52062 Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Energy Technologies Fundamental Electrochemistry (IET‐1) Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich Germany