Scaling Low-Temperature CO2-to-Syngas Electroreduction: Failure Modes; Engineering Bottlenecks; and Mitigation Strategies

2026-06-08

Senthilkumar Pachamuthu

Jing Gao

Adnan Ozden

Ulrich Legrand

Marco Favaro

Mark A. Isaacs *

F. Pelayo Garcı́a de Arquer

Cátia Azenha

Adélio Mendes

Edward H. Sargent

Csaba Janáky

Michael Gräetzel

Pablo Jiménez‐Calvo *

DOI：10.1021/acsenergylett.6c00886

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Low-temperature CO2 electroreduction (CO2eR) to syngas offers tunable H2:CO ratios and a renewable route to decarbonized syngas production, yet catalyst-level advances rarely translate to scalable, durable systems. This review addresses that disconnect with a systems-engineering perspective. We first establish the component foundations, electrolytes, membranes, and cell architectures of flow cells and zero-gap membrane electrode assembly (MEA) electrolyzers, together with integrated versus decoupled syngas production modes, then analyze the engineering failure modes that dominate at scale: non-uniform current distribution, localized hotspots, electrode flooding, salt precipitation, and thermal gradients. Single-pass CO2 conversion efficiency (SPCE) is introduced as a co-equal metric alongside Faradaic and energy efficiency (FE/EE). Original contributions include a standardized accelerated stress test (AST) protocol, a lifecycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework with quantitative carbon footprint benchmarking, a mitigation strategy compatibility matrix, and three-benchmark design pathways targeting high EE, high stability, and high SPCE, providing an actionable systems-engineering roadmap toward CO2eR systems sustaining >5000 h at industrially relevant current densities.

Keywords:

Electrocatalysts

Electrodes

Electrolysis

Inorganic carbon compounds

Oxides

Scaling Low-Temperature CO2-to-Syngas Electroreduction: Failure Modes; Engineering Bottlenecks; and Mitigation Strategies

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