Electrochemical selective oxygen transfer enables energy-efficient environmental deoxygenation.

Abstract

Deep deoxygenation, defined as oxygen level ≤ 1%, is increasingly pursued to suppress oxidation-driven spoilage and side reactions in applications such as food preservation, yet industrial practice still relies on nitrogen purging enabled by pressure swing adsorption. Because oxygen removal by dilution and displacement depends on maintaining a nitrogen-oxygen concentration gradient, this approach requires substantial nitrogen throughput and high power input. This burden is especially pronounced in cold chain logistics, where refrigeration already dominates operating cost and emissions. Here we report an electrochemical environmental deoxygenation system that selectively transports oxygen from the controlled environment to ambient air through coupled oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions. This pathway reduces entropy generation and operates closer to the thermodynamic minimum than pressure swing adsorption. When integrated with low-oxygen, moderate-temperature preservation, the system reduces total energy use by ~ 36% versus conventional low-temperature operation while maintaining or improving preservation quality, supporting scalable, energy-efficient oxygen management.