Development and characterization of bismuth carbon-integrated electrocatalysts for high-temperature electroreduction of CO2 to formic acid

Nowadays global warming is the biggest challenge the human species has to face. Greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic activity, of which carbon dioxide occupies the largest share, are the main cause of climate changes observed in the last century. Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), is one of the most promising prospects to combat this problem.One of the most advanced pathways to convert CO2 is by using green current to reduce it into different chemicals. The use of electrolysers to supply electrons to the carbon dioxide stream and reduce it electrochemically to small molecules, such as formic acid and carbon monoxide, which is considered one of the best options from an economic point of view, has been studied and will be explained in this paper. The electroreduction of CO2 at temperatures above room temperature has only been studied in recent years, and many studies have yet to be developed. In this work, a new series of bismuth electrocatalysts integrated with carbon microparticles was synthesized and characterized to carry out the electroreduction of CO2 to formic acid at high temperatures. The new catalyst series claims to be structural more stable at the conditions at which the electrolyzer needs to work, avoiding the particles sintering at high temperature after long exposure. This project aims to provide new information on the new series of bismuth electrocatalysts and their performance in the target process by studying their behaviour at high temperatures, different current densities and different process durations, and analysing their structural stability and selectivity.