Calcium metaborate induced thin walled carbon nanotube syntheses from CO2 by molten carbonate electrolysis

Abstract An electrosynthesis is presented to transform the greenhouse gas CO 2 into an unusually thin walled, smaller diameter morphology of C arbon N anotubes (CNTs). The transformation occurs at high yield and coulombic efficiency of the 4-electron CO 2 reduction in a molten carbonate electrolyte. The electrosynthesis is driven by an unexpected synergy between calcium and metaborate. In a pure molten lithium carbonate electrolyte, thicker walled CNTs (100–160 nm diameter) are synthesized during a 4 h CO 2 electrolysis at 0.1 A cm −2 . At this low current density, CO 2 without pre-concentration is directly absorbed by the air (direct air capture) to renew and sustain the carbonate electrolyte. The addition of 2 wt% Li 2 O to the electrolyte produces thinner, highly uniform (50–80 nm diameter) walled CNTs, consisting of ~ 75 concentric, cylindrical graphene walls. The product is produced at high yield (the cathode product consists of > 98% CNTs). It had previously been demonstrated that the addition of 5–10 wt% lithium metaborate to the lithium carbonate electrolyte boron dopes the CNTs increasing their electrical conductivity tenfold, and that the addition of calcium carbonate to a molten lithium carbonate supports the electrosynthesis of thinner walled CNTs, but at low yield (only ~ 15% of the product are CNTs). Here it is shown that the same electrolysis conditions, but with the addition of 7.7 wt% calcium metaborate to lithium carbonate, produces unusually thin walled CNTs uniform (22–42 nm diameter) CNTs consisting of ~ 25 concentric, cylindrical graphene walls at a high yield of > 90% CNTs.