Systematic screening of gas diffusion layers for high performance CO2 electrolysis

Angelika Anita Samu; Imre Szenti; Ákos Kukovecz; Balázs Endrődi; Csaba Janáky

doi:10.1038/s42004-023-00836-2

Systematic screening of gas diffusion layers for high performance CO₂ electrolysis

Commun Chem. 2023 Feb 24;6(1):41. doi: 10.1038/s42004-023-00836-2.

Authors

Angelika Anita Samu^{1

2}, Imre Szenti³, Ákos Kukovecz³, Balázs Endrődi⁴, Csaba Janáky^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Szeged, Rerrich Square 1, Szeged, H-6720, Hungary.
² eChemicles Zrt, Alsó Kikötő sor 11, Szeged, H-6726, Hungary.
³ Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, Rerrich Square 1, Szeged, H-6720, Hungary.
⁴ Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Szeged, Rerrich Square 1, Szeged, H-6720, Hungary. endrodib@chem.u-szeged.hu.
⁵ Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Szeged, Rerrich Square 1, Szeged, H-6720, Hungary. janaky@chem.u-szeged.hu.
⁶ eChemicles Zrt, Alsó Kikötő sor 11, Szeged, H-6726, Hungary. janaky@chem.u-szeged.hu.

Abstract

Certain industrially relevant performance metrics of CO₂ electrolyzers have already been approached in recent years. The energy efficiency of CO₂ electrolyzers, however, is yet to be improved, and the reasons behind performance fading must be uncovered. The performance of the electrolyzer cells is strongly affected by their components, among which the gas diffusion electrode is one of the most critical elements. To understand which parameters of the gas diffusion layers (GDLs) affect the cell performance the most, we compared commercially available GDLs in the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to CO, under identical, fully controlled experimental conditions. By systematically screening the most frequently used GDLs and their counterparts differing in only one parameter, we tested the influence of the microporous layer, the polytetrafluoroethylene content, the thickness, and the orientation of the carbon fibers of the GDLs. The electrochemical results were correlated to different physical/chemical parameters of the GDLs, such as their hydrophobicity and surface cracking.