Electrode Technology Achieves 86% Efficiency for Converting CO₂ Into Plastic Precursors
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-electrode-technology-efficiency-plastic-precursors.html
In the process of converting carbon dioxide into useful chemicals such as ethylene-a key precursor for plastics-a major challenge has been the flooding of electrodes, where electrolyte penetrates the electrode structure and reduces performance. KAIST researchers have developed a new electrode design that blocks water while maintaining efficient electrical conduction and catalytic reactions, thereby improving both efficiency and stability.
A research team led by Professor Hyunjoon Song from the Department of Chemistry has developed a novel electrode structure utilizing silver nanowire networks-ultrafine silver wires arranged like a spiderweb-to significantly enhance the efficiency of electrochemical CO conversion to useful chemical products. The research was published in Advanced Science.
In electrochemical CO conversion processes, a long-standing issue has been flooding, where the electrode becomes saturated with electrolyte, reducing the space available for CO to react. While hydrophobic materials can prevent water intrusion, they typically suffer from low electrical conductivity, requiring additional components and complicating the system.
To overcome this, the research team designed a three-layer electrode architecture that simultaneously repels water and enables efficient charge transport. The structure consists of a hydrophobic substrate, a catalyst layer, and an overlaid silver nanowire (Ag NW) network, which acts as an efficient current collector while preventing electrolyte flooding.
A key finding of this study is that the silver nanowires do more than just conduct electricity-they actively participate in the chemical reaction. During CO reduction, the silver nanowires generate carbon monoxide (CO), which is then transferred to adjacent copper-based catalysts, where further reactions occur.
This creates a tandem catalytic system, in which two catalysts cooperate sequentially, significantly enhancing the production of multi-carbon compounds such as ethylene.
The electrode demonstrated outstanding performance. It achieved 79% selectivity toward C products in alkaline electrolytes and 86% selectivity in neutral electrolytes, representing a world-leading level. It also maintained stable operation for more than 50 hours without performance degradation.
These results indicate that most of the converted products are the desired chemicals, while also overcoming the durability limitations of conventional systems.
Professor Hyunjoon Song stated, "This study is significant in showing that silver nanowires not only serve as electrical conductors but also directly participate in chemical reactions," adding, "This approach provides a new design strategy that can be extended to converting CO into a wide range of valuable products such as ethanol and fuels."
Provided by The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Jonghyeok Park et al, Overlaid Conductive Silver Nanowire Networks on Gas Diffusion Electrodes for HighPerformance Electrochemical CO2toC2+Conversion, Advanced Science (2026). DOI: 10.1002/advs.75003
Journal information: Advanced Science
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