journal article Nov 24, 2025

Hydrophobic Carbon Nanotube‐PTFE Network in Gas Diffusion Electrode for Flooding Resistance in CO 2 Electroreduction

ChemSusChem Vol. 19 No. 1 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1002/cssc.202501694
Abstract
The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO
2
RR) represents a promising approach for the sustainable production of value‐added chemicals from CO
2
. However, maintaining long‐term operational stability under industrially relevant high current densities remains a major challenge, primarily due to electrolyte flooding and the salt formation including carbonate and bicarbonate species, which severely compromise the performance of gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs). In this article, we present an advanced gas diffusion layer (GDL) design incorporating multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into porous carbon‐based microporous layers. The resulting architecture facilitates the formation of a continuous, hydrophobic CNT–polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) network via preferential PTFE alignment along the CNT surfaces. This hydrophobic CNT–PTFE network effectively mitigates electrolyte flooding while maintaining efficient gas transport pathways. As a result, the CNT‐reinforced GDE demonstrated substantially enhanced CO
2
RR performance, sustaining a CO Faradaic efficiency above 80% for 150 h at a current density of 400 mA cm
−2
. In contrast, conventional carbon‐based GDEs exhibited rapid performance decay within 10 h under same conditions. These findings highlight that microstructural engineering of the GDL, via the formation of a hydrophobic CNT–PTFE network, provides a robust and scalable strategy for enhancing flooding resistance and operational durability in CO
2
RR systems.
Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References
38
[2]
Progress and Perspectives of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction on Copper in Aqueous Electrolyte

Stephanie Nitopi, Erlend Bertheussen, Soren B. Scott et al.

Chemical Reviews 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00705
[4]
Advances and challenges in understanding the electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to fuels

Yuvraj Y. Birdja, Elena Pérez-Gallent, Marta C. Figueiredo et al.

Nature Energy 10.1038/s41560-019-0450-y
[13]
Zhang W. "Hierarchical One‐Dimensional/Three‐Dimensional Nitrogen‐Doped Porous Carbon for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction" Carbon Energy (2024)
[16]
Shao T. "Tackling the Proton Limit under Industrial Electrochemical CO2 Reduction by a Local Proton Shuttle" Carbon Energy (2023)
[31]
Systematic screening of gas diffusion layers for high performance CO2 electrolysis

Angelika Anita Samu, Imre Szenti, Ákos Kukovecz et al.

Communications Chemistry 10.1038/s42004-023-00836-2
Metrics
2
Citations
38
References
Details
Published
Nov 24, 2025
Vol/Issue
19(1)
License
View
Cite This Article
Sengwoo Kim, Youngjin Doh, Junwon Oh, et al. (2025). Hydrophobic Carbon Nanotube‐PTFE Network in Gas Diffusion Electrode for Flooding Resistance in CO 2 Electroreduction. ChemSusChem, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202501694
Related

You May Also Like

The Hydrogen Issue

Nicola Armaroli, Vincenzo Balzani · 2010

965 citations

Recent Advances in CO2 Capture and Utilization

Kai Man Kerry Yu, Igor Curcic · 2008

791 citations