(84t) A Modeling of Flow Cell eCO2r System for Elucidating the Phenomena of Local Reaction Environment Using Multi-Physics Simulation.

Many CO₂R studies have been carried out to suppress CO₂ emission in various fields. Among them, the eCO₂Rs have drawn attention due to the potential to be a low-carbon, sustainable way of producing a range of valuable chemicals. They have been developed intensively to break through their performance limitations and commercialize. Recently, the developed systems have consequently reached their industrial applicability. However, there is little understanding of how various properties of the system interactively affect the local reaction environment. Additionally, the existing mathematical models are limited in describing properly the intertwined phenomena in the system.

Motivated by these limitations, we developed a full-scale multi-physics model interpreting the eCO₂R. A vapor-fed flow-cell eCO₂R system is implemented using multi-physics simulation to analyze the role of EDL and cation effect on the local reaction environment. The experimental results show differences in current densities depending on the cations since the cations in electrolyte exhibit the Frumkin effect and steric effect, influencing the concentrations of ions and the potential in vicinity of cathode surface. These effects are addressed fidelitously in our model, and the simulation results, showing different concentration and potential profiles with cations, are consistent with the experimental results. This framework will pave the way for elucidating the intertwined phenomena in the eCO₂R system.