Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Formic Acid

This Review provides an overview of electrochemical techniques that are implemented in addressing gaseous CO₂ towards the synthesis of a particular fuel (i.e. formic acid). The electrochemical reaction mechanism, as well as the advancement of electrodes, catalyst materials, and reactor designs are reviewed and discussed. To date, the electrolytic cell is the dominant reaction site and, based on which, various catalysts have been proposed and researched. In addition, relevant work regarding reactor design optimization for the purpose of alleviating restrictions of the current CO₂ electrochemical reduction system are summarized, including low reactant-transfer rate, high reaction overpotential, and low product selectivity. The use of microfluidic techniques to build microscale electrochemical reactors is identified to be highly promising to largely increase the electrochemical performance. Finally, future challenges and opportunities of electrochemical reduction of CO₂ are discussed. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH