Innovative Membrane-Based Approaches to CO₂ Electroreduction: From Fundamentals to Applications

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue “Innovative Membrane-Based Approaches to CO₂ Electroreduction: From Fundamentals to Applications” in Membranes focuses on advancing CO₂ electroreduction technologies, particularly through the use of membrane science and engineering. This Special Issue invites contributions that explore the structure–property relationships in novel membrane materials, aiming to improve key performance metrics such as selectivity, efficiency, and scalability. It emphasizes the importance of electrocatalysis, interfacial engineering, and reactor design to enhance CO₂ conversion processes.

Key Themes of this Special Issue

1. Membrane Technologies:
• This Special Issue highlights the role of innovative membrane materials, such as mixed matrix membranes and tunable composite architectures, in improving CO₂ electroreduction. These materials are designed to optimize membrane morphology, porosity, and surface properties to enhance CO₂ conversion efficiency.
• Studies on ion exchange membranes (proton and anion exchange) are also encouraged, with a focus on how these membranes can improve gas diffusion and mass transport in electrochemical reactors.
2. Electrocatalysis:
• Electrocatalysts play a central role in CO₂ reduction, with a particular interest in how tailored catalyst–membrane interfaces can enhance selectivity for valuable C₂₊ products such as ethylene or ethanol.
• Research on copper-based catalysts has shown significant promise in producing multi-carbon products through enhanced C–C coupling mechanisms. Advanced spectroscopic methods, like surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), have been used to identify key intermediates and active sites on copper surfaces that facilitate this process.
3. Reactor Design and Interfacial Engineering:
• Novel reactor configurations that address mass transport limitations are critical for scaling up CO₂ electroreduction technologies. This includes optimizing the interaction between membrane components and electrocatalysts to improve overall reactor performance.
• Additionally, strategies like electrolyte regulation and gas diffusion electrode (GDE) design are being explored to overcome challenges related to product selectivity and energy efficiency in acidic CO₂ reduction systems.
4. Technoeconomic Assessments:
• This Special Issue also calls for technoeconomic analyses that evaluate the scalability of membrane reactor designs for industrial applications. These types of assessments are crucial for determining the feasibility of implementing CO₂ electroreduction technologies on a commercial scale.

Recent Advances in CO₂ Electroreduction

Several recent studies have contributed to advancing the field of CO₂ electroreduction:

• Control of Local Reaction Environments: Research has demonstrated that tuning local H₂O/CO₂ concentrations at the reaction interface can significantly improve the selectivity and stability of multi-carbon product formation. For example, polymer coatings on catalysts have been shown to enhance Faradaic efficiencies for C₂₊ products at high current densities.
• Metal–Organic Framework (MOF)-Derived Catalysts: MOF-derived materials have emerged as promising electrocatalysts due to their porous structures and improved stability. These materials offer enhanced conductivity and product selectivity, making them suitable for CO₂ reduction applications.
• Acidic Electrolyte Systems: Acidic CO₂ reduction systems have gained attention for their ability to achieve higher single-pass carbon efficiency (SPCE) by avoiding carbonate formation. However, challenges remain in improving product selectivity and reducing hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) in these systems.

Future Directions

The Special Issue aims to bridge the gap between fundamental research and real-world applications by encouraging interdisciplinary studies that combine advanced material design with practical reactor configurations. By focusing on both experimental innovations and technoeconomic evaluations, this Special Issue seeks to accelerate the development of scalable CO₂ electroreduction technologies that can contribute to carbon neutrality.

This comprehensive approach will help address key challenges such as improving catalyst stability, enhancing product selectivity, and integrating renewable energy sources into CO₂ reduction processes.

Dr. Mohammad Rezaei
Dr. Abdalaziz Aljabour
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• CO₂ reduction
• gas diffusion electrode
• ion exchange membrane
• proton exchange membrane
• anion exchange membrane
• membrane morphology
• interfacial engineering
• catalyst incorporation
• reactor design
• technoeconomic analysis