Electrochemical reactor based on a polymer electrolyte fuel cell for the reduction reaction of CO2

Abstract

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is now developing life support systems for closed environments in space. The reduction reaction of carbon dioxide is an important technique for the sustainable manned operation in space. Recently, Umeda et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 114, 174908 (2013)] from the Nagaoka University of Technology reported that the reduction reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) proceeded using a fuel cell under the existence of CO2 and H2 by supplying those gases to the cathode and the anode, respectively. We observed stable reaction when Pt/Ru-C was used as a catalyst for the cathode and Pt-C for the anode. Different organic materials were obtained depending on the alternated potential and temperature. Furthermore, a fuel cell stack with 8 cells connected in series was tested to demonstrate the stable energy generation by feeding CO2 to the cathode and H2 to the anode.