Prior studies have demonstrated that the increase of the ion-exchange capacity (IEC) or fixedcharge in the BPM can enhance the rate of water dissociation by increasing the electric field between the AEL and CEL. As shown in Figures , increasing the IEC does indeed improve the rate of water dissociation significantly, and consequently the rate of CO2 flux at a given applied potential. Improving the performance of the water-dissociation catalyst has also been proven to be key in reducing energy requirements for BPM operation. As such, the model was run with varying values of 𝛼 hi , which represents the sensitivity of water dissociation to the electric field. The results show that performance of the BPM in reactive carbon solutions is indeed incredibly sensitive to the catalyst activity (Figure ). Taken together, these results indicate that improving bubble removal from the BPM su rface, increasing the IEC of the ionomers, and using a better WD catalyst would drastically enhance the performance of BPM-ED EMCC. kJ mol CO2 -1 , even at current densities at or exceeding 100 mA cm -2 for the 0.5 and 1 M KHCO3 electrolytes. Applied-voltage breakdowns (Figure ) demonstrate that these improvements are due to improved ionic conductivity due to the enhanced IEC, as well as significantly reduced overpotentials for water dissociation due to the high IEC and improved catalytic behavior, and the assumed mitigation of bubble losses in the system.