Coupling Value-Added Anodic Reactions with Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction.

Electrocatalytic CO reduction features a promising approach to realize carbon neutrality. However, its competitiveness is limited by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at anode, which consumes a large portion of energy. Coupling value-added anodic reactions with CO electroreduction has been emerging as a promising strategy in recent years to enhance the full-cell energy efficiency and produce valuable chemicals at both cathode and anode of the electrolyzer. This review briefly summarizes recent progresses on the electrocatalytic CO reduction, and the economic feasibility of different CO electrolysis systems is discussed. Then a comprehensive summary of recent advances in the coupled electrolysis of CO and potential value-added anodic reactions is provided, with special focus on the specific cell designs. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities for the coupled electrolysis systems are proposed, which are targeted to facilitate progress in this field and push the CO electrolyzers to a more practical level.