Temperature-and potential-induced exfoliation of electrochemically produced solid carbon from CO2 on a Ce:GaInSn electrode
Abstract
Resource-efficient carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere will require the development of new materials for processes beyond carbon capture and utilisation. One high-potential pathway for such negative emission technologies is the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to storable products such as graphitic carbon. Although this can be achieved by employing an electrode made of cerium particles in a liquid gallium-indium-tin matrix, this electrocatalytic pathway currently suffers from comparatively low faradaic efficiencies (FE). In this work, we investigate the temperature dependence of electrochemical CO 2 -reduction to solid carbon on this liquid-metal. An increase in temperature of up to 50 ◦ C leads to significantly higher FEs. A variation of applied potentials leads to a temperature-dependent exfoliation of the product. Moreover, a change in the morphology of the solid carbon product species, from carbon black-like particles, over graphitic flakes to fibers can be induced by varying the operating conditions. From a practical standpoint, the temperature range, we find for optimum FE, lies in the range that can be achieved through thermal coupling with photovoltaic solar cells, suggesting co-benefits of photovoltaics-driven, electrochemical carbon dioxide removal.
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BibTeX
@misc{ubele2026temperatureand,
title = {{Temperature-and potential-induced exfoliation of electrochemically produced solid carbon from CO2 on a Ce:GaInSn electrode}},
author = {Miriam Übele and Daniel Lörch and Holger Euchner and Matthias M. May},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008319/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008319/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Temperature-and potential-induced exfoliation of electrochemically produced solid carbon from CO2 on a Ce:GaInSn electrode
AU - Miriam Übele
AU - Daniel Lörch
AU - Holger Euchner
AU - Matthias M. May
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/04
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008319/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008319/v1
AB - Resource-efficient carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere will require the development of new materials for processes beyond carbon capture and utilisation. One high-potential pathway for such negative emission technologies is the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to storable products such as graphitic carbon. Although this can be achieved by employing an electrode made of cerium particles in a liquid gallium-indium-tin matrix, this electrocatalytic pathway currently suffers from comparatively low faradaic efficiencies (FE). In this work, we investigate the temperature dependence of electrochemical CO 2 -reduction to solid carbon on this liquid-metal. An increase in temperature of up to 50 ◦ C leads to significantly higher FEs. A variation of applied potentials leads to a temperature-dependent exfoliation of the product. Moreover, a change in the morphology of the solid carbon product species, from carbon black-like particles, over graphitic flakes to fibers can be induced by varying the operating conditions. From a practical standpoint, the temperature range, we find for optimum FE, lies in the range that can be achieved through thermal coupling with photovoltaic solar cells, suggesting co-benefits of photovoltaics-driven, electrochemical carbon dioxide removal.
ER -