Sustainable chemical manufacturing relies on closing the carbon cycle by transforming CO 2 into useful products such as ethylene. Integrated CO 2 electrolysis enables direct use of CO 2 ‐rich absorbents, whereby efficient operation requires optimization of process conditions and cell design. This publication investigates the influence of flow field design, gas diffusion layer properties, catalyst loading, gas diffusion electrode compression, and membrane thickness on ethylene formation in a zero‐gap membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer using CO 2 ‐saturated potassium bicarbonate which is the CO 2 ‐loaded absorbent in the commercial potassium carbonate CO 2 scrubbing process. The results show that a flat, uniformly thin copper layer about 2 µm‐thick, placed next to a thin 20 µm anion exchange membrane, creates an enhancing microenvironment for C 2+ product formation with a maximum FE of 31% to ethylene at a current density of 50 mA cm −2 and a cell voltage of 5.2 V. These findings highlight the critical role of catalyst layer architecture and membrane selection in the effective conversion of CO 2 to C 2+ products. By focusing on the interplay between cell components and local reaction environments, this work advances the design of integrated CO 2 electrolyzers for efficient ethylene production, supporting the development of scalable, and sustainable carbon utilization.
Hauf et al. (Mon,) studied this question.