Abstract

Phosgene is an important feedstock in chemical industry. It can be used as an acylating agent to produce numerous high-value chemicals. In this work, we have constructed a novel membrane electrolysis cell for CO₂ reduction to CO in organic electrolyte, with HCl oxidized to Cl₂ on the anode in aqueous solution. The obtained CO and Cl₂ can be used as feedstock to produce phosgene. Through this route, CO₂ can be converted to high-value products, and meanwhile, chlorine can be recovered from HCl-containing industrial waste gases. Based on our experimental results, CO₂ can be efficiently reduced to CO, and HCl can be efficiently oxidized to Cl₂. Our designed electrolyzer has a promising utilization perspective in phosgene chemical industry.

The full (paywalled) article appeared on the Electrochimica Acta website at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013468621010185