Carbon free gas diffusion electrode
The present invention relates to a novel approach of obtaining a gas diffusion electrode (GDE), the gas diffusion electrodes obtained using said method and the use thereof in the electrocatalytic conversion of gaseous reactants into economically interesting reaction products. The GDEs obtained using the method of the present invention are particularly useful in the electrochemical of gaseous reactants such as CO2, H2, N2, or O2 into bulk chemicals and fuels such as Syngas, Formic Acid, Methanol, Ethanol, Ethane, Ethylene, Methane, Ammonia, and the like.
1 . A Gas Diffusion Electrode (GDE) comprising a Catalytic Activated Gas Diffusion Layer (CAGDL), wherein the CAGDL comprises an electrochemically fully activated Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) comprising a catalytic material homogenously distributed within the fully activated GDL, the fully activated GDL further comprising a porous binder material, wherein the catalytic material is present within the activated GDL in the absence of a conductive carbon support for the catalytic material, and in the absence of a current collector or current distributor, and wherein the catalytic material comprises a metal selected from Sn, Cd, Zn, Pb, Sb, Bi, or a eutectic composition comprising two or more of the metals and is present withing the fully activated GDL as recrystallized nanostructured particles.
2 . The GDE according to claim 1 , wherein the porous binder material is a polymeric porous material.
3 . The GDE according to claim 1 , wherein the porous binder material is a thermoplastic porous material.
4 . The GDE according to claim 1 , wherein the porous binder material is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
5 . The GDE according to claim 1 , wherein the catalytic material in the GDE comprises the eutectic composition of Zn—Sn or Bi—Sn.
6 . The GDE according to claim 1 , wherein the recrystallized nanostructured particles have all three dimensions in an average length from about 1 nm to about 100 nm.
7 . The GDE according to claim 1 , wherein the catalytic material is included as a metallic powder to the porous binder material.
8 . The GDE according to claim 1 , wherein the CAGDL comprises about 50 wt %-80 wt % of the catalytic material.