Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm of CO_2 to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO_2-Protected III–V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode

Abstract

A solar-driven CO_2 reduction (CO_2R) cell was constructed, consisting of a tandem GaAs/InGaP/TiO_2/Ni photoanode in 1.0 M KOH(aq) (pH = 13.7) to facilitate the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER), a Pd/C nanoparticle-coated Ti mesh cathode in 2.8 M KHCO_3(aq) (pH = 8.0) to perform the CO_2R reaction, and a bipolar membrane to allow for steady-state operation of the catholyte and anolyte at different bulk pH values. At the operational current density of 8.5 mA cm^(–2), in 2.8 M KHCO_3(aq), the cathode exhibited <100 mV overpotential and >94% Faradaic efficiency for the reduction of 1 atm of CO_2(g) to formate. The anode exhibited a 320 ± 7 mV overpotential for the OER in 1.0 M KOH(aq), and the bipolar membrane exhibited ∼480 mV voltage loss with minimal product crossovers and >90 and >95% selectivity for protons and hydroxide ions, respectively. The bipolar membrane facilitated coupling between two electrodes and electrolytes, one for the CO_2R reaction and one for the OER, that typically operate at mutually different pH values and produced a lower total cell overvoltage than known single-electrolyte CO_2R systems while exhibiting ∼10% solar-to-fuels energy-conversion efficiency.