IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,723,314
Granted Patent B2
US 12,723,314 · App. 18/793,453 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Systems and methods for electrochemical generation of syngas and other useful chemicals

Inventors: Curtis Berlinguette (Vancouver, CA); Danielle Salvatore (Vancouver, CA); Tengfei Li (Vancouver, CA); Maxwell Goldman (Vancouver, CA); Eric Lees (Vancouver, CA)
Assignee: The University of British Columbia
C25B1/23B01D53/1475B01D53/62B01D53/73C25B1/02C25B9/19C25B15/08B01D2252/602B01D2257/504
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,723,314
App. No.
18/793,453
Granted
Sep 1, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Processes and apparatus for electrocatalytically converting carbon dioxide emissions and/or ambient carbon dioxide into useful chemicals are described. The process may include: removing carbon dioxide from ambient air through a carbon capture technique, supplying a carbonate or bicarbonate aqueous solution as cathode feed to a cathode of an electrolytic cell comprising a membrane electrode assembly which includes a bipolar membrane separating an anode from the cathode, and applying an electrical potential difference between the cathode and the anode of the membrane electrode assembly to electrocatalytically reduce the carbonate or bicarbonate aqueous solution to carbon monoxide or another useful chemical.

Claims (34)

1 . A method comprising:

flowing a catholyte comprising carbonate and/or bicarbonate to an electrochemical reactor, wherein the electrochemical reactor comprises an anode, a cathode and a bipolar membrane separating the anode from the cathode, and wherein the bipolar membrane comprises a cation exchange membrane facing the cathode and an anion exchange membrane facing the anode, and wherein the catholyte has a pH above 8;

dissociating water at the bipolar membrane to generate protons and hydroxide ions, causing the protons to flow toward the cathode and causing the hydroxide ions to flow toward the anode;

reacting the carbonate and/or bicarbonate in the catholyte with the protons to yield in-situ CO 2 ;

performing a reduction reaction at the cathode, wherein the reduction reaction comprises reducing the in-situ CO 2 to generate CO and H 2 ;

performing an oxidation reaction at the anode; and

removing the CO and H 2 from the electrochemical reactor.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the gaseous stream comprises ambient air, flue gas, or exhaust gas.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrochemical reactor is maintained at a pressure of 2 atmospheres or less.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the catholyte comprises the carbonate and/or the bicarbonate at a concentration of at least 3 moles/liter.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrochemical reactor causes the oxidation and reduction reactions using power having a current density of at least 25 mA/cm 2 and at most 100 mA/cm 2 .

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrochemical reactor is operated at a temperature not exceeding 150° C.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrochemical reactor is operated at a temperature not exceeding a boiling point of the aqueous solution.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a molar ratio of the CO to the H 2 is greater than 1.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a molar ratio of the CO to the H 2 is less than 1.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reduction reaction further generates CO 2 .

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the catholyte has a pH in the range of from 8 to 10.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cathode is spaced apart from the bipolar membrane by a distance of 100 μm or less.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the anode comprises a layer of a porous metal.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises a silver catalyst.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a concentration of CO 2 in the catholyte is below 7 mM.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxidation reaction comprises oxidizing hydroxide ions to yield water and oxygen gas.

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

flowing a gaseous stream to a contactor to contact an aqueous solution, thereby capturing CO 2 from the gaseous stream to generate the catholyte, wherein the aqueous solution comprises an enzyme catalyst for promoting the capturing of the CO 2 .

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising discharging a gas out of the contactor after the capturing of the CO 2 from the gaseous stream, wherein the gas discharged out of the contactor has a CO 2 concentration that is less than a CO 2 concentration of the gaseous stream.

19 . A method comprising:

in a contactor, capturing CO 2 from a gaseous stream into an aqueous solution comprising a catalyst for the capture of CO 2 to generate a catholyte comprising carbonate and/or bicarbonate;

flowing the catholyte comprising carbonate and/or bicarbonate from the contractor to an electrochemical reactor, wherein the electrochemical reactor comprises an anode, a cathode and a bipolar membrane separating the anode from the cathode, and wherein the bipolar membrane comprises a cation exchange membrane facing the cathode and an anion exchange membrane facing the anode, wherein the catholyte is directly supplied from the contactor to the electrochemical reactor;

dissociating water at the bipolar membrane to generate protons and hydroxide ions, causing the protons to flow toward the cathode and causing the hydroxide ions to flow toward the anode;

reacting the carbonate and/or bicarbonate in the catholyte with the protons to yield in-situ CO 2 ;

performing a reduction reaction at the cathode, wherein the reduction reaction comprises reducing the in-situ CO 2 to generate CO and H 2 ;

performing an oxidation reaction at the anode; and

removing the CO and H 2 from the electrochemical reactor.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the catalyst comprises an enzyme catalyst.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 2, 2024
From: BERLINGUETTE, CURTIS; LI, TENGFEI; SALVATORE, DANIELLE; LEES, ERIC; GOLDMAN, MAXWELL
To: THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Reel/Frame 068168/0585 →
Continuity (4)
Continuation 18656757 · May 7, 2024
Continuation 17050319 · Apr 25, 2019
Provisional Application 62662391 · Apr 25, 2018
Related Publication 20240392449A1 · Nov 28, 2024
References Cited (72)
US 8163066B2 · Eisenberger · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8535502B2 · Littau et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20090120288A1 · Lackner et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20100135865A1 · Constantz et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20120174778A1 · Eisenberger · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130105304A1 · Kaczur · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20190127865A1 · Li et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20210002775A1 · Matsumoto · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210047743A1 · Goetheer · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210164117A1 · Fujinuma · 2021 [cited by examiner]
CA 2950294C · 2022 [cited by applicant]
CN 102912374B · 2015 [cited by applicant]
CN 106006554B · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 107868962B · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 108193228B · 2019 [cited by applicant]
DE 102015209509A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
DE 102016220297A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
EP 2163294B1 · 2013 [cited by applicant]
EP 3378967A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
KR 20130083217A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
KR 20180024424A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
WO 2009012154A2 · 2009 [cited by applicant]
WO 2009048685A1 · 2009 [cited by applicant]
WO 2010022339A2 · 2010 [cited by applicant]
WO 2011056183A1 · 2011 [cited by applicant]
WO 2012055035A1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
WO 2016039999A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO 2017014635A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019049476A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019051609A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
WO 2020010447A1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
Li et al., Bipolar Membranes Inhibit Product Crossover in CO2 Electrolysis Cells, 2 Adv. Sustainable Syst. 1700187 (Year: 2018). [cited by examiner]
Lee et al., Original and Machine Translation, KR 10-2017-0114870 (Year: 2017). [cited by examiner]
Chen, Y. et al., “Aqueous CO2 reduction at very low overpotential on oxide-derived Au nanoparticles” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012 (134) 19969-19972. [cited by applicant]
Chu, S. et al., “Tunable Syngas Production from CO2 and H2O in an Aqueous Photoelectrochemical Cell”, Angewandte Chemie, vol. 55, issue 46, Nov. 7, 2016, 14262-14266. [cited by applicant]
Delacourt, C. et al., “Design of an Electrochemical Cell Making Syngas (CO+H2) from CO2 and H2O Reduction at Room Temperature”, J. Electrochem. Soc. 155, B42-B49 (2008). [cited by applicant]
Dufek, E. J. et al., “Bench-scale electrochemical system for generation of CO and syn-gas”, J. Appl. Electrochem. 41, 623-631 (2011). [cited by applicant]
Dunwell, M. et al., “The Central Role of Bicarbonate in the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide on Gold”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 3774-3783 (2017). [cited by applicant]
Eisaman, M. D. et al., “CO2 separation using bipolar membrane electrodialysis”, Energy & Environmental Science 2011, 4 (4), 1319-1328. [cited by applicant]
Gupta, N. et al., “Calculation for the cathode surface concentrations in the electrochemical reduction of CO2 in KHCO3 solutions”, J. App. Electrochem. 36, 161-172 (2006). [cited by applicant]
He, J. et al., “Electrocatalytic Alloys for CO2 Reduction”, ChemSusChem 11, 48-57 (2018). [cited by applicant]
Hofbauer, H. et al., “Report on gas cleaning for synthesis applications”, ThermalNet (2007), Vienna, University of Technology Institute of Chemical Engineering. [cited by applicant]
Hori, Y. et al., “Electrolytic Reduction of Bicarbonate Ion at a Mercury Electrode”, J. Electrochem. Soc. 130, 2387-2390 (1983). [cited by applicant]
Hu, G. et al., “Screening Amino Acid Salts as Rate Promoters in Potassium Carbonate Solvent for Carbon Dioxide Absorption”, Energy Fuels 2017, 31, 4280-4286. [cited by applicant]
Hu, G. et al., “Enzymatic carbon dioxide capture using a thermally stable carbonic anhydrase as a promoter in potassium carbonate solvents”, Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 307, Jan. 1, 2017, 49-55. [cited by applicant]
Keith, D.W. et al., “A Process for Capturing CO2 from the Atmosphere”, Joule 2, 1573-1594, Aug. 15, 2018. [cited by applicant]
Kortlever, R. et al., “Electrochemical carbon dioxide and bicarbonate reduction on copper in weakly alkaline media”, J. Sold State Electrochem. 17, 1843-1849 (2013). [cited by applicant]
Kulh, K. P. et al., “New insights into the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide on metallic copper surfaces”, Energy Environ. Sci. 5, 7050-7059 (2012). [cited by applicant]
Kutz, R. B. et al., “Sustainion Imidazolium-Functionalized Polymers for Carbon Dioxide Electrolysis” Energy Technol. 5, 929-936 (2017). [cited by applicant]
Li, T. et al., “Electrolytic CO2 Reduction in Tandem with Oxidative Organic Chemistry”, ACS Cent. Sci. 3, 778-783 (2017). [cited by applicant]
Li, Y. C. et al., “Electrolysis of CO2 to Syngas in Bipolar Membrane-Based Electrochemical Cells”, ACS Energy Lett. 1, 1149-1153 (2016). [cited by applicant]
Liao, P.-Q. et al., “Monodentate hydroxide as a super strong yet reversible active site for CO2 capture from high-humidity flue gas”, Energy & Environmental Science 2015, 8 (3), 1011-1016. [cited by applicant]
Lin, S. et al., “Covalent organic frameworks comprising cobalt porphyrins for catalytic CO2 reduction in water”, Science 349, 1208-1213 (2015). [cited by applicant]
Liu, M. et al., “Enhanced electrocatalytic CO2 reduction via field-induced reagent concentration”, Nature 537, 382 (2016). [cited by applicant]
Mariano, R. G. et al., “Selective increase in CO2 electroreduction activity at grain-boundary surface terminations”, Science 358, 1187-1192 (2017). [cited by applicant]
Min, X. et al., “Pd-catalyzed electrohydrogenation of carbon dioxide to formate: high mass activity at low overpotential and identification of the deactivation pathway”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 4701-4708 (2015). [cited by applicant]
Qiao, J. et al., “A review of catalysts for the electroreduction of carbon dioxide to produce low-carbon fuels”, Chem. Soc. Rev. 43, 631-675 (2014). [cited by applicant]
Rochelle, G. T., “Amine Scrubbing for CO2 Capture”, Science, vol. 325, issue 5948, 1652-1654, Sep. 25, 2009. [cited by applicant]
Salvatore, D. A. et al., “Electrolysis of Gaseous CO2 to CO in a Flow Cell with a Bipolar Membrane”, ACS Energy Lett. 3, 149-154 (2018). [cited by applicant]
Shah, A.H. et al., “Revisiting Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 on Cu Electrode: Where Do We Stand about the Intermediates?”, J. Phys. Chem. C 2018, 122, 18528-18536. [cited by applicant]
Singh, M. R. et al., “Hydrolysis of Electrolyte Cations Enhances the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 over Ag and Cu”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 13006-13012 (2016). [cited by applicant]
Spichiger-Ulmann, M. et al., “Electrochemical reduction of bicarbonate ions at a bright palladium cathode”, J. Chem. Soc. Lond. Faraday Trans. 1 (81), 713-716 (1985). [cited by applicant]
Sreekanth, N. et al., “Selective reduction of CO2 to formate through bicarbonate reduction on metal electrodes: new insights gained from SG/TC mode of SECM”, Chem. Commun. 50, 11143-11146 (2014). [cited by applicant]
Weekes, D. M. et al., “Electrolytic CO2 Reduction in a Flow Cell”, Acc. Chem. Res. (2018), doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.8b00010. [cited by applicant]
Whipple, D. T. et al., “Microfluidic Reactor for the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide: The Effect of pH”, Electrochem. Solid-State Lett. 13, B109-B111 (2010). [cited by applicant]
Wiebe, R. et al., “The Solubility of Carbon Dioxide in Water at Various Temperatures from 12 to 40° and at Pressures to 500 Atmospheres. Critical Phenomena”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 62, 815-817 (1940). [cited by applicant]
Willauer, H. D. et al., “Development of an Electrochemical Acidification Cell for the Recovery of CO2 and H2 from Seawater II. Evaluation of the Cell by Natural Seawater”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 201… [cited by applicant]
Wuttig, A. et al., “Bicarbonate Is Not a General Acid in Au-Catalyzed CO2 Electroreduction”, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2017, 139 (47), 17109-17113. [cited by applicant]
Wuttig, A. et al., “Impurity Ion Complexation Enhances Carbon Dioxide Reduction Catalysis”, ACS Cata.5, 4479-4484 (2015). [cited by applicant]
Yu, Y. et al., “Enzymatic conversion of CO2 to bicarbonate in functional mesoporous silica”, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, vol. 153, May 1, 2012, 166-170. [cited by applicant]
Zhong, H. et al., “Effect of CO2 Bubbling into Aqueous Solutions Used for Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 for Energy Conversion and Storage”, J. Phys. Chem. C 119, 55-61 (2015). [cited by applicant]
Zhu, S. et al., “Direct Observation on Reaction Intermediates and the Role of Bicarbonate Anions in CO2 Electrochemical Reduction Reaction on Cu Surfaces”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 15664-15667 (2017). [cited by applicant]