Electrochemical bicarbonate reduction to carbon monoxide or other products has gained increasing attention due to its integrated design approach, which combines regeneration and reaction in a single reactor. However, unlike the conventional gas-fed electrochemical CO₂ reduction systems, the design and operation of bicarbonate reduction systems remain underdeveloped. In particular, these systems often suffer from low stability, high energy consumption in the electrolyzer, and mass transfer limitations caused by the coexistence of gas and liquid phases.
To address these challenges, we systematically investigated the engineering aspects of the bicarbonate reduction system, including operating conditions, reactor components, and overall architecture. First, a novel electrolyzer cell incorporating porous flow fields was developed to improve gas–liquid mass transfer within the reactor. For catalyst design, different catalyst types and binder combinations were optimized to control catalyst layer wetting. In terms of operational parameters, flow rate, temperature, and pressure were carefully tuned.
