Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

CO2 electroreduction

Is water activity the elephant in the room?

Nature Catalysis volume 6, pages 746–747 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

The electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to high-value multicarbon products is very desirable, but also fraught with immense complexity in process design. A twist in tuning product yields in this reaction could be based on water activity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: CO2 reduction on commercial Cu-nanoparticle-coated gas diffusion electrodes related to water activity.

References

  1. Qiao, J. L., Liu, Y. Y., Hong, F. & Zhang, J. J. Chem. Soc. Rev. 43, 631–675 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Qiao, J. L., Liu, Y. Y. & Zhang, J. J. (eds.) Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide: Fundamentals and Technologies (CRC, 2019).

  3. Wu, J. H., Huang, Y., Ye, W. & Li, Y. G. Adv. Sci. 4, 1700194 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhang, H., Gao, J. X., Raciti, D. & Hall, A. S. Nat. Catal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-023-01010-6 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Belbahi, A. et al. J. Appl. Microbiol. 121, 1685–1698 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Xiao, D. W., Zhang, L., Li, Z. W., Dou, H. & Zhang, X. G. Energy Storage Mater. 44, 10–28 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Das, B., Thapper, A., Ott, S. & Colbran, S. B. Sustain. Energy Fuels 3, 2159–2175 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sharma, P. P. & Zhou, X. D. WIREs Energy Environ. 6, 239 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Sandoval-Rojas, A. P., Gomez-Marin, A. M., Suarez-Herrera, M. F., Climent, V. & Feliu, J. M. Catal. Today 262, 95–99 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Gonella, G. et al. Nat. Rev. Chem. 5, 466–485 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Toner, J. D. & Catling, D. C. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 181, 164–174 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Malaspina, T., Colherinhas, G., Weitzner, S. E., Wood, B. C. & Fileti, E. E. J. Mol. Liq. 383, 122097 (2023).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wang, X. et al. ChemElectroChem 9, 202200675 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Niu, Z. Z. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 143, 8011–8021 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    Frank Marken

Authors
  1. Frank Marken
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Marken.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marken, F. Is water activity the elephant in the room?. Nat Catal 6, 746–747 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-023-01013-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-023-01013-3

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing