Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to value added chemicals is a promising route for its utilization and mitigation from atmosphere. Nevertheless, an industrial process involving CO₂ electroreduction is yet to be a reality and requires further studies on improving the existing processes. In the present work, we report new insights into the electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to zinc oxalate at SS 304 L cathode in acetonitrile in the presence of a sacrificial Zn anode. The influence of current density, water content in the electrolyte solution and pressure on product selectivity were evaluated. In addition, oxalic acid synthesis from zinc oxalate was studied using ester hydrolysis process. Our results showed that the product yield is affected due to CO₂ reduction to carbonate, decomposition of acetonitrile to cyanide and glycolate formed due to partial reduction of oxalate. Experiments performed in a batch reactor at 2 bar pressure showed that an average Faradaic efficiency of 73.9% can be obtained for zinc oxalate. A yield of 58.1% was obtained for the extraction of oxalic acid. Both zinc oxalate and oxalic acid obtained from this process were compared with commercially available products to confirm its purity.

CO ₂电化学转化为增值化学品是从大气中利用和缓解CO ₂的有前途的途径。然而，涉及CO ₂电解还原的工业过程尚未成为现实，并且需要进一步研究以改进现有过程。在目前的工作中，我们报告了在牺牲性锌阳极存在下，在乙腈中SS 304 L阴极处CO ₂电化学转化为草酸锌的新见解。评估了电流密度，电解质溶液中的水含量和压力对产物选择性的影响。此外，还研究了使用酯水解法从草酸锌合成草酸的方法。我们的结果表明，CO影响产品收率₂还原为碳酸盐，乙腈分解为氰化物和乙醇酸酯，这是由于草酸酯的部分还原而形成的。在2 bar压力下在间歇式反应器中进行的实验表明，草酸锌的平均法拉第效率为73.9％。草酸的提取产率为58.1％。将通过该方法获得的草酸锌和草酸与市售产品进行比较，以确认其纯度。