SIPS 2018

DETAILLED PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Electrochemical Activation of Carbon Dioxide for the Synthesis of Chemicals
Christian Amatore¹; Alessandro Galia²; Onofrio Scialdone²;
¹CNRS & PSL, FRENCH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Paris, France; ²UNIVERSITY OF PALERMO, Palermo, Italy;
PAPER: 63/Electrochemistry/Regular (Oral)
SCHEDULED: 12:10/Mon./Copacabana B (150/1st)

ABSTRACT:
To curb the negative effect of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, an interesting approach is the utilization of Carbon Capture and Conversion (CCC) methodologies. These recycling technologies are focused on the use of CO2 waste as a feedstock for the production of industrially relevant chemicals. In the past years, increasing attention has been devoted to the electrochemical conversion of CO2, which would combine the utilization of excess electric energy from intermittent renewable sources with the selective conversion of CO2 into added value products. Furthermore, it would be possible, in order to reduce the costs, to use the excess of the daily produced electricity, not matching actual demand energy, that is usually lost or not properly used. Researches have shown that several products, including carbon monoxide, formic acid, methane, methanol, ethylene and oxalic acid, can be obtained by this process. Furthermore, it has been shown that carbon dioxide can be introduced in the backbone of other molecules, generating fine chemicals with high economic value, such as anti-inflammatory drugs, by cathodic reduction in aprotic solvents In this work, various routes for the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide will be presented and discussed from both a scientific, technical and economic point of view, such as the synthesis of formic acid in water (in conventional and pressurized cells) or the electrocarboxylation of aromatic ketones and benzyl chlorides in organic solvents, in order to illustrate the current scenario.

References:
[1] S. Sabatino, A. Galia, G. Saracco, O. Scialdone, Development of an electrochemical process for the simultaneous treatment of wastewater and the conversion of carbon dioxide to higher value products, ChemElectroChem 4 (1), 150-159, 2017.
[2] O. Scialdone, A. Galia, G.L. Nero, F. Proietto, S. Sabatino, B. Schiavo, Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid at a tin cathode in divided and undivided cells: effect of carbon dioxide pressure and other operating parameter, Electrochimica Acta 199, 332-341, 2016