High productivity of tartronate from electrocatalytic oxidation of high concentration glycerol through facilitating the intermediate conversion

Abstract

Selective electro-oxidation of glycerol to value-added chemicals has attracted much attention both for the upgrading of biodiesel industry and the coupled electrolytic hydrogen production. Here we report Pt nanoparticles decorated, Fe- and N co-doped carbon nanotube (Pt/FeNC) catalyst for the selective electro-oxidation of glycerol to tartronate, one of the valuable chemicals used in pharmaceuticals. In a high concentrated glycerol solution of 5.0 M, the Pt/FeNC catalyst reaches the glycerol conversion of 94% and tartronate yield over 47% at 0.9 V vs. RHE, equivalent to a tartronate production rate of 1182 mmol/h/gPt, about 20 times of the highest value ever reported in a batch electrocatalytic reactor. The valence band analysis and kinetic experiments reveal that the FeNC mediates the adsorption behavior of the glycerate intermediate on Pt surface, and promotes the glycerate-to-tartronate oxidation. Moreover, the anchoring effect of FeNC ensures the stable catalytic performance for ten cycles.