A peer-reviewed reactor experiment used a porous solid-electrolyte interlayer to make carbon monoxide from the carbon captured in a bicarbonate solution. The layer managed proton flow and gas transport, directing about 90 per cent of electrical charge into the target product under one tested condition. An integrated trial with simulated flue gas maintained at least 70 per cent for more than 300 hours.
Captured carbon in a bicarbonate solution became carbon monoxide in a peer-reviewed electrochemical reactor experiment. A porous solid-electrolyte layer helped direct about 90 per cent of the charge into carbon monoxide at 200 mA/cm². This Faradaic efficiency measures the electrical charge reaching the target reaction. Overall energy efficiency and the fraction of incoming carbon converted are separate quantities.[1]
The membrane exchanges protons, allowing bicarbonate to release carbon dioxide. Too much acidity at the cathode can instead favour hydrogen production. The porous interlayer buffers proton transport while giving regenerated carbon dioxide a route to the catalyst. The experiment used a carbon-nanotube support carrying cobalt phthalocyanine. The change therefore concerned the interface, as well as the catalyst material.[1]
A transparent cell made bubble behaviour visible, alongside gas analysis and spectroscopy while the reactor ran. In cells lacking the interlayer, bubbles grew near the membrane and obstructed transport, changing resistance. Gas reached the cathode more readily with the porous layer.[1]
An integrated capture-and-conversion test maintained at least 70 per cent Faradaic efficiency for more than 300 hours with simulated flue gas. The simulated gas mixture contained 15 per cent carbon dioxide and 5 per cent oxygen, with nitrogen making up the rest. Larger electrode areas and higher current densities were also tested. Conductivity, layer thickness and liquid transport still involved trade-offs; laboratory operation did not establish a whole plant’s economics or life-cycle carbon balance.[1]
