Electrochemical CO2 Conversion

Abstract

The chapter is a review of the present state of research concerning electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide from conducting liquid and solid media of different chemical composition. They include solid, aqueous, non-aqueous (organic and ionic liquids), and molten salt electrolytes. It reports a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of using these electrolytes, as well as products obtained by the electrochemical decomposition of CO2, the properties of these products, and the prospects for their use. Special emphasis has been made on the electrochemical decomposition of carbon dioxide from salt melts, several variants of decomposition have been considered, the advantages and disadvantages of each variant have been analyzed. The chapter reports an analysis of literature data on this subject as well as research results of the authors on the direct electrochemical conversion of CO2 into valuable solid-phase chemicals with added value. They include: nanoscale solid carbon of different structure and morphology (carbon nanotubes, fibers, graphene); fine tungsten and molybdenum carbide powders; double tungsten (molybdenum) carbides with cobalt and nickel.