Mitigating Electrolyte Flooding for Electrochemical CO2Reduction via Infiltration of Hydrophobic Particles in a Gas Diffusion Layer
Yuming Wu (University of Queensland)
Liam Charlesworth (University of Queensland)
Irving Maglaya (University of Queensland)
Mohamed Nazmi Idros (University of Queensland)
Mengran Li (TU Delft - ChemE/Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage)
Thomas Burdyny (TU Delft - ChemE/Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage)
Geoff Wang (University of Queensland)
Thomas E. Rufford (University of Queensland)
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Abstract
Achieving operational stability at high current densities remains a challenge in CO2 electrolyzers due to flooding of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) that supports the electrocatalyst. We mitigated electrode flooding at high current densities using a vacuum-assisted infiltration method to embed 200-400 nm-sized polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles at the interface of the microporous layer (MPL) and carbon cloth in a commercial GDL. In CO2 electrolysis to CO over a silver nanoparticle catalyst on the GDL, the PTFE-embedded GDL not only just exhibited less than 10% of the electrolyte seepage rates observed in untreated GDLs at a current density of 300 mA·cm-2 but also expanded the electrochemical active area across the testing conditions. The PTFE-embedded GDL also maintained a Faradaic efficiency for CO2 electrolysis to CO above 80% for more than 100 h at 100 mA·cm-2, which was a 50-fold improvement in the stable operation time of the electrolyzer.