Efficient Potassium Formate Production by Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Potassium formate is the potassium salt of formic acid, and is highly soluble in water. Potassium formate has various industrial applications, including de-icing, a heat transfer fluid, fertilizers, and others. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) has been extensively and intensively investigated in the last decades, to generate chemicals, including formate. Army considers the electrochemical approaches can enable systems that utilize inexpensive and readily available materials and would economically produce potassium formate in a form readily usable for roadway and runway deicing. In this project, we propose a gas-diffusion layer (GDL)-based dual flow CO2 electrolyzer for potassium formate production using non-precious, highly formate-selective CO2RR catalysts based on HER-inert catalyst to hydrogenate CO2 but suppress hydrogen and CO production.