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<p>Molten metal halide salt electrolysis offers a promising approach for the efficient conversion of natural gas under mild conditions. However, the dissociation voltages of alkali or alkaline earth chlorides are typically high, causing high electrical energy cost. Herein, we report the use of ZnCl<sub>2</sub> to replace NaCl dissolved in molten LiCl–KCl to decrease the operating voltage by ~2&#xa0;V, remarkably reducing electrical energy consumption by ~40%. In addition, this work features a stepwise cyclic process to decouple the electrolysis, the chlorination, and the dechlorination, reducing the reaction complexity and enabling independent monitoring and parameter optimization. It also reports detailed results on the molten ZnCl<sub>2</sub>–LiCl–KCl electrolysis, and the effective dechlorination of representative chlorinated methanes and chlorinated ethanes with molten Zn. Overall, it is a promising approach for efficient decomposition of natural gas under moderate temperatures (less than 600&#xa0;ºC) and reduced applied voltages, substantially improving the practicality of the process.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Natural Gas Decomposition via a Stepwise Cycling Process Driven by Low-Dissociation-Voltage Molten ZnCl2–LiCl–KCl Electrolysis

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月3日

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  • Xu Zhang,
  • Xian Meng,
  • Xiaofei Guan

摘要

Molten metal halide salt electrolysis offers a promising approach for the efficient conversion of natural gas under mild conditions. However, the dissociation voltages of alkali or alkaline earth chlorides are typically high, causing high electrical energy cost. Herein, we report the use of ZnCl2 to replace NaCl dissolved in molten LiCl–KCl to decrease the operating voltage by ~2 V, remarkably reducing electrical energy consumption by ~40%. In addition, this work features a stepwise cyclic process to decouple the electrolysis, the chlorination, and the dechlorination, reducing the reaction complexity and enabling independent monitoring and parameter optimization. It also reports detailed results on the molten ZnCl2–LiCl–KCl electrolysis, and the effective dechlorination of representative chlorinated methanes and chlorinated ethanes with molten Zn. Overall, it is a promising approach for efficient decomposition of natural gas under moderate temperatures (less than 600 ºC) and reduced applied voltages, substantially improving the practicality of the process.

Graphical Abstract