Bridging the Lab-to-Plant Gap in Electrochemical CO2 Capture

Abstract The net-zero initiative has aroused global actions in carbon capture, utilization, and storage to reduce carbon emissions. Traditional CO2 capture technologies based on temperature-swing suffer from high energy consumption and capital costs. Electrochemical CO2 capture (ECC) has emerged as a promising pathway, offering notable advantages in energy efficiency and renewable energy integration. However, a critical gap between laboratory research and industrial implementation persists due to the lack of a unified, industry-relevant evaluation system. Herein, we introduce an industry-oriented benchmarking framework for ECC, based on dual commercial benchmarks of amine capture and proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Our evaluation reveals that current ECC technologies still face significant cost competitiveness challenges relative to commercial amine capture. We further identify key innovation priorities in functional materials, reactor engineering, and process integration to bridge the lab-to-plant gap and advance ECC’s industrial deployment.