A Pair-Electrosynthesis for Formate at Ultra-Low Voltage Via Coupling of CO 2 Reduction and Formaldehyde Oxidation

Highlights Pair electrosynthesis of formate was achieved by combining CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) and formaldehyde oxidation reaction (FOR) in the membrane electrode assembly. Replacing oxygen evolution reaction with thermodynamically more favorable FOR reduces energy consumption. CO 2 RR//FOR exhibits excellent electrochemical performance (100 mA cm −2 @ 0.86 V), electricity consumption normalized by the mass of formate was 0.413 Wh g −1 .