(Bi)carbonate reduction as a new pathway beyond conventional CO2 reduction
- 1State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy Dalian 116023 China
- 2Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
Abstract
Electroreduction of carbonate and bicarbonate is emerging as a chemically distinct route beyond conventional gas-fed CO2 electrolysis. Yet the nominal ionic-carbon feed does not uniquely identify the immediate electroactive species. This review examines both indirect conversion, in which HCO3− or CO32− is locally protonated to regenerate molecular CO2 before conventional CO2RR, and direct conversion, in which solvated (bi)carbonate-derived species are activated at the cathode. We further discuss a surface- or lattice-mediated regime involving catalyst-bound carbonate reservoirs. Although these pathways may coexist, they differ fundamentally in carbon-species transport, interfacial reaction steps, catalyst-design requirements and reactor architectures. Using this pathway-resolved framework, we analyze the roles of acid–base speciation, proton-coupled electron transfer, cation-carbonate structuring, membrane-regulated carbon flux and catalytic microenvironments. We further evaluate catalyst and electrolyzer design, mechanistic evidence, carbon accounting and integration with carbon capture, including emerging direct-air-to-chemicals concepts. Finally, we identify the mechanistic and system-level requirements for advancing (bi)carbonate electrolysis towards energy-efficient, closed-loop capture-conversion processes.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026bicarbonate,
title = {{(Bi)carbonate reduction as a new pathway beyond conventional CO2 reduction}},
author = {Jieru Zhang and Mengdie Lv and Jianing Zhang and Lin Luo and Kun Qi and Fuxiang Zhang},
journal = {Chemical Science},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1039/d6sc05532j},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc05532j},
note = {CC BY-NC 3.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - (Bi)carbonate reduction as a new pathway beyond conventional CO2 reduction
AU - Jieru Zhang
AU - Mengdie Lv
AU - Jianing Zhang
AU - Lin Luo
AU - Kun Qi
AU - Fuxiang Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Chemical Science
DO - 10.1039/d6sc05532j
UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc05532j
AB - Electroreduction of carbonate and bicarbonate is emerging as a chemically distinct route beyond conventional gas-fed CO2 electrolysis. Yet the nominal ionic-carbon feed does not uniquely identify the immediate electroactive species. This review examines both indirect conversion, in which HCO3− or CO32− is locally protonated to regenerate molecular CO2 before conventional CO2RR, and direct conversion, in which solvated (bi)carbonate-derived species are activated at the cathode. We further discuss a surface- or lattice-mediated regime involving catalyst-bound carbonate reservoirs. Although these pathways may coexist, they differ fundamentally in carbon-species transport, interfacial reaction steps, catalyst-design requirements and reactor architectures. Using this pathway-resolved framework, we analyze the roles of acid–base speciation, proton-coupled electron transfer, cation-carbonate structuring, membrane-regulated carbon flux and catalytic microenvironments. We further evaluate catalyst and electrolyzer design, mechanistic evidence, carbon accounting and integration with carbon capture, including emerging direct-air-to-chemicals concepts. Finally, we identify the mechanistic and system-level requirements for advancing (bi)carbonate electrolysis towards energy-efficient, closed-loop capture-conversion processes.
SN - 2041-6520
SN - 2041-6539
ER -