Dioxide Materials, Inc.

Syed Dawar Sajjad

Richard I Masel

Zengcai Liu

Qingmei Chen

Robert Kutz

Mark J Pellerite

Jerry J Kaczur

Hongzhou Yang

Yan Gao

An anion-conducting polymeric membrane comprises vinylbenzyl-Rand a substituted ethene. Ris a positively charged cyclic amine group. The total weight of the vinylbenzyl-Rgroups is greater than 15% of the total weight of the membrane. In a preferred embodiment, the membrane is a Helper Membrane that increases the faradaic efficiency of an electrochemical cell into which the membrane is incorporated, and also allows product formation at lower voltages than in cells without the Helper Membrane.

Ion-conducting membranes

A catalyst layer for an electrochemical device comprises a catalytically active element and an ion conducting polymer. The ion conducting polymer comprises positively charged cyclic amine groups. The ion conducting polymer comprises at least one of an imidazolium, a pyridinium, a pyrazolium, a pyrrolidinium, a pyrrolium, a pyrimidium, a piperidinium, an indolium, a triazinium, and polymers thereof. The catalytically active element comprises at least one of V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Sn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Al, Si, In, Tl, Pb, Bi, Sb, Te, U, Sm, Tb, La, Ce and Nd. In an electrolyzer comprising the present catalyst layer, the feed to the electrolyzer comprises at least one of COand HO.

Catalyst layers and electrolyzers

An electrochemical device converts carbon dioxide to a formic acid reaction product. The device includes an anode and a cathode, each comprising a quantity of catalyst. The anode and cathode each have reactant introduced thereto. Two membranes, a cation exchange polymer electrolyte membrane and an anion exchange polymer electrolyte membrane, are interposed between the anode and the cathode, forming a central flow compartment where a carbon dioxide reduction product, such as formic acid, can be recovered. At least a portion of the cathode catalyst is directly exposed to gaseous carbon dioxide during electrolysis. The average current density at the membrane is at least 20 mA/cm, measured as the area of the cathode gas diffusion layer that is covered by catalyst, and formate ion selectivity is at least 50% at a cell potential difference of 3.0 V. In some embodiments, at least one polymer electrolyte membrane comprises a polymer in which a constituent monomer is (p-vinylbenzyl)-R, where R is selected from the group consisting of imidazoliums, pyridiniums and phosphoniums. In some embodiments, the polymer electrolyte membrane is a Helper Membrane comprising a polymer containing an imidazolium ligand, a pyridinium ligand, or a phosphonium ligand.

Method and system for electrochemical production of formic acid from carbon dioxide

A method to manufacture an ion exchange membrane involves treatment of the membrane in a strong base to strengthen the membrane, decrease the membrane solubility, and create linkages that can be detected by analysis using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

Method of making an anion exchange membrane

An anion-conducting polymeric membrane comprises a terpolymer of styrene, vinylbenzyl-Rand vinylbenzyl-R. Ris a positively charged cyclic amine group. Ris at least one constituent selected from the group consisting Cl, OH and a reaction product between an OH or Cl and a species other than a simple amine or a cyclic amine. The total weight of the vinylbenzyl-Rgroups is greater than 0.3% of the total weight of the membrane. In a preferred embodiment, the membrane is a Helper Membrane that increases the faradaic efficiency of an electrochemical cell into which the membrane is incorporated, and also allows product formation at lower voltages than in cells without the Helper Membrane.

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Boca Raton, FL, United States of America

Syed Dawar Sajjad