Conclusion In summary, this chapter investigated the impact of alkyl chain length in imidazolium cations and the influence of alkali metal cations on non-aqueous CO2 reduction. The results revealed that longer alkyl chain lengths in imidazolium cations did not improve the performance of nonaqueous CO2 reduction. Instead, smaller cations with higher charge densities showed more favorable electrochemical activities. The introduction of alkali metal cations, which are widely studied electrolytes for aqueous CO2 reduction, had a negative effect and often led to the complete suppression of CO2 reduction activity. This phenomenon, as explained by numerous studies, can be attributed to the formation of alkali metal carbonate species, which passivate the active electrode surface and hinder reduction in aprotic solvents. Future research should focus on addressing this challenge to enable a valid comparison between imidazolium cations and alkali metal cations for non-aqueous CO2 reduction – for example by adding an organic acid to acetonitrile. By overcoming this hurdle, valuable insights can be gained for optimizing the performance of non-aqueous CO2 reduction systems.
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