Hydrogen anode/cathode co-productions-coupled anode alcohol selective oxidation and distinctive H/e transfer pathways

Abstract

Co-electrolysis, which can produce more than one kind of high value products concurrently at lowered energy cost, has attracted increasing attention. However, the development of novel co-electrolysis systems and efficient electro-catalysts, and the investigation of corresponding reaction mechanism, are urgently needed. Anodic biomass oxidation-coupled electrocatalytic anode/cathode hydrogen co-production has been attracting intense attentions most recently. Herein, a co-electrolysis system of α-H-armed alcohols and water has been established by introducing an efficient PdBi/NF electrocatalyst, in which hydrogen can be obtained from both anode and cathode, and alcohols can be selectively oxidized to corresponding high-value chemicals. In particular, valuable 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-Hp) at the anode, together with hydrogen gas at both cathode and anode, can be obtained by the co-electrolysis of water and 1, 3-propanediol (1, 3-P). More importantly, the reaction mechanism, especially the hydrogen atom and electron transfer pathway have been investigated in detail, which has been overlooked in previous literatures.