Germany researchers improving direct electrolysis of CO2 and hydrogen to ethylene

In Germany, work is being done on appropriate solutions in the project “H2-Reallabor Burghausen – ChemDelta Bavaria”. Since July 2024, Fraunhofer UMSICHT has been supporting the subproject “CO2 Direct Electrolysis to Green Ethylene (CODE)”, which is based there. Specifically, the scientists are developing a novel reactor for the efficient conversion of carbon dioxide to ethylene.

Increasing the efficiency of the direct electrolysis of CO2 and hydrogen to ethylene to enable industrial application is one of the goals of the H2 real-world laboratory in Burghausen.

One focus of the researchers at Fraunhofer UMSICHT is on developing an efficient cell design for the demonstrator and scaling the project partners’ electrode concepts. This builds on the experience gained in scaling CO2 electrolysis technology with membrane electrode assemblies for the production of green carbon monoxide.