CO2 electrolysis toward acetate: A review

Abstract

Storing renewable electricity from intermittent energy resources by turning waste CO2 into versatile chemicals is promising for sustainable energy economy. In this process, multi-carbon products, especially acetate, are hard to achieve due to the high energy barrier and low selectivity for C–C coupling. Targeting acetate as a CO2 electroreduction reactions (CO2RR) end-product is perspective to reform the current acetate industry. Herein, we summarize the two major CO2-to-acetate routes: the direct route via CO2RR and the indirect one via CO reduction reaction (CORR). We firstly summarized reaction mechanisms for different routes; then discussed several categories of catalysts for acetate production via CO2RR or CORR. We also correlate the theoretical calculations and experimental results to better understand the catalyst design principles. Finally, challenges and opportunities in current established processes are proposed. We aim to build a systematic understanding of current CO2-to-acetate strategies and offer practical design guidelines for industrial CO2-to-acetate production.