From Pollution to Value: Electrochemical Systems for Transforming Flue Gas into Chemicals and Fuels.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) can enable the production of fuels and chemicals from CO2 emissions. Direct flue gas conversion can address the emissions from hard-to-abate sectors, including cement, steel, and power generation industries. Such integration with SCO2RR can also decarbonize the petrochemical industry and eliminate separation and purification steps. Here, recent progress and emerging opportunities for transformative flue-gas-tolerant systems for producing fuels and chemicals are reviewed. The review begins by analyzing recent progress in direct flue gas conversion and highlighting emerging micro-reaction environment features. Next, performance degradation mechanisms associated with flue gas conversion in CO2RR systems are discussed. Following this, the bicarbonate reduction reaction (BRR) and CO2RR from amine-based capture as emerging strategies for high-rate, selective, and stable electrosynthesis of chemicals from feeds containing low CO2 concentrations are highlighted. Finally, the mitigation of flue gas impurities such as oxygen, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides, is discussed, and perspectives for emerging opportunities are shared.