Conversion Products Research Articles

Efficient photoreforming of plastic waste using a high-entropy oxide catalyst

Simultaneous catalytic hydrogen (H2) production and plastic waste degradation under light, known as photoreforming, is a novel approach to green fuel production and efficient waste management. Here, we use a high-entropy oxide (HEO), a new family of catalysts with five or more principal cations in their structure, for plastic degradation and simultaneous H2 production. The HEO shows higher activity than that of P25 TiO2, a benchmark photocatalyst, for the degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics in water. Several valuable products are produced by photoreforming of PET bottles and microplastics including H2, terephthalate, ethylene glycol and formic acid. The high activity is attributed to the diverse existence of several cations in the HEO lattice, lattice defects, and appropriate charge carrier lifetime. These findings suggest that HEOs possess high potential as new catalysts for concurrent plastic waste conversion and clean H2 production.

Tailoring Interlayer Microenvironment of 2D Layered Double Hydroxides for CO2 Reduction with Enhanced C2+ Production.

Both the physicochemical properties of catalytic material and the structure of loaded catalyst layer (CL) on gas diffusion electrode (GDE) are of crucial importance in determining the conversion efficiency and product selectivity of carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, the highly reducing reaction condition of CO2RR will lead to the uncontrollable structural and compositional changes of catalysts, making it difficult to tailor surface properties and microstructure of the real active species for favored products. Herein, the interlayer microenvironment of copper-based layered double hydroxides (LDHs) is rationally tuned by a facile ink solvent engineering, which affects both the surface characters and microstructure of CL on GDE, leading to distinct catalytic activity and product selectivity. According to series of in situ and ex situ techniques, the appropriate surface wettability and thickness of porous CL are found to play critical roles in controlling the local CO2 concentration and water dissociation steps that are key for hydrogenation during CO2RR, leading to a high Faradaic efficiency of 75.3% for C2+ products and a partial current density of 275mAcm-2 at -0.8V versus RHE. This work provides insights into rational design of efficient electrocatalysts toward CO2RR for multi-carbon generation.

Biofilm mass transfer and thermodynamic constraints shape biofilm in trickle bed reactor syngas biomethanation

Syngas (H2, CO2, CO) produced thermochemically from lignocellulosic biomass is an underexploited source for resource recovery and valorisation through its biological conversion for the production of a wide range of chemicals and fuels. Syngas biomethanation is one such promising bioconversion pathway, displaying interesting features such as high conversion efficiency and product selectivity, as methane is the sole product of the process. The biological conversion of syngas to high purity biomethane is still typically associated with a number of challenges related to the syngas composition, CO toxicity, and gas–liquid mass transfer limitations. In this work, the syngas biomethanation process carried out in trickle bed reactors was investigated at its boundary conditions to explore the limits of the process, focusing on syngas composition and mass-transfer conditions potentially limiting process performance. The process was found to be robust when exposed to CO excess, but highly sensitive to H2 excess, which caused severe inhibition even under small amounts of excess H2. This implies that biomethane purity comparable to natural gas can be achieved by addition of renewable H2, but this requires precise control to avoid process failure. Modulating the liquid recirculation rate and gas residence time allowed for a maximum methane productivity of 9.8 ± 0.5 mmol CH4 h−1 Lreactor−1 with full conversion of H2 and CO at a gas residence time of 1 h. Nevertheless, increasing the gas–liquid mass transfer with increasing liquid recirculation rate did not lead to increased methane productivity, which suggested additional rate-limiting bottlenecks in the process. Careful investigation of other factors potentially limiting the process led to the conclusion that diffusive transport of syngas components in the biofilm was the main bottleneck of the process. This diffusive limitation leads to a scenario of severe substrate scarcity in the biofilm phase that conditions the thermodynamic feasibility of the different biochemical reactions involved in syngas biomethanation. In turn, these thermodynamic constraints were found to drive the stratification of microbial groups and sequential consumption of syngas components along the height of the reactor.

Green Diesel Production Through Deoxygenation Reaction with Natural Zeolite-supported Nickel and Copper Catalyst

The depletion of fossil fuels and their environmental impact necessitate sustainable alternatives. Green diesel, a biofuel with a chemical structure similar to conventional diesel, has gained traction as a viable alternative. This study explores the development of a cost-effective catalyst for green diesel production using deoxygenation. Deoxygenation refers to a broad class of chemical reactions where oxygen atoms are stripped from a molecule. This research employed abundant Indonesian natural zeolite (NZ) as a catalyst support, impregnated with non-noble metals, nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu). The investigation revealed that the NiCu/NZ catalyst achieved the highest oleic acid conversion (90.40%) and green diesel yield. The product distribution, ranging from C15 to C18 hydrocarbons, reflects the moderate acidity of the catalyst, promoting diverse cracking patterns compared to highly acidic catalysts. Additionally, the high specific surface area of NZ facilitates the conversion and good product distribution. Furthermore, the optimization process demonstrated that increasing hydrogen pressure during deoxygenation enhances both conversion rate and green diesel production.

From lab to industry: Scaling-up Fe-Ni bimetallic nano oxygen carrier for mid-temperature methane chemical looping reforming

Chemical looping methane reforming has emerged as a promising avenue to produce blue hydrogen. Currently, satisfactory CH4 conversion and H2 productivity typically requires reaction temperature above 800 °C, bringing challenges for industrial reactor design and energy conservation. To realize high chemical looping methane reforming performance at low temperature, a Fe-Ni bimetallic nano oxygen carrier was presented, along with the workflow and platform for scaled-up synthesis of the oxygen carrier. On account of the synergy of nanoscale Fe-Ni species, the operating temperature could be lowered to 500–600 °C. The lab-scale oxygen carrier converted >90 % CH4 and produced 3.5 H2 per CH4 molecule with 80–82 % outlet H2 purity at 575–600 °C. The 10-kg scale synthesized oxygen carrier powder exhibited >90 % CH4 conversion, >78 % H2 purity and produced 2.8–3.5 H2 per CH4, with performance penalty from scaling up controlled within 5 %. After shaping and calcination, the 10-kg oxygen carrier beads still produced 2.8 H2 from per CH4 molecule with >70 % H2 purity. Longevity test revealed the 10-kg powder and beads as stable in phase, morphology, and redox activity over 110 cycles. Experiments of variable operating conditions found that the 10-kg oxygen carriers can meet industrial requirements of H2 production at >550 °C, with low steam/carbon ratio favored by 10-kg beads. Further analysis attributed the performance distinction of 10-kg beads to its lower surface area, reduction extent and steam affinity, compared to those of the lab-scale and 10-kg powders. These findings contributed to the mid-temperature chemical looping methane reforming by bridging laboratory practices and industrial application.

Mitigating the negative impact of over-association for conversational query production

Conversational query generation aims at producing search queries from dialogue histories, which are then used to retrieve relevant knowledge from a search engine to help knowledge-based dialogue systems. Trained to maximize the likelihood of gold queries, previous models suffer from the data hunger issue, and they tend to both drop important concepts from dialogue histories and generate irrelevant concepts at inference time. We attribute these issues to the over-association phenomenon where a large number of gold queries are indirectly related to the dialogue topics, because annotators may unconsciously perform reasoning with their background knowledge when generating these gold queries. We carefully analyze the negative effects of this phenomenon on pretrained Seq2seq query producers and then propose effective instance-level weighting strategies for training to mitigate these issues from multiple perspectives. Experiments on two benchmarks, Wizard-of-Internet and DuSinc, show that our strategies effectively alleviate the negative effects and lead to significant performance gains (2%∼5% across automatic metrics and human evaluation). Further analysis shows that our model selects better concepts from dialogue histories and is 10 times more data efficient than the baseline.

Cerium(III)-induced structural transformation of hexagonal birnessite: Effect of mineral phase transition on arsenite transport and valence changes

The widespread mining and application of rare earth elements (REEs) have led to their continuous accumulation in the environment, with increasing concentrations in soil. The interaction between the most abundant REEs, cerium (Ce), and the prevalent hexagonal birnessite (HB) in the environment is worth attention. HB is one of the most effective metal oxides for the oxidation of arsenite [As(III)] and subsequent adsorption, and thus for arsenic (As) immobilization. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of the presence of Ce(III) ion on the HB formation process and the influence of generating minerals on the oxidation and removal of As(III). Research has found that the interfacial reactions of REEs in manganese (Mn) minerals not only affect their cycling but also alter the properties of the Mn minerals, thereby affecting the environmental fate of As. The results indicated that the presence of Ce ions affected the structure of HB during mineral synthesis and reduced the crystallinity of the conversion products. Their substitution for Mn(IV) in the lattice increased the specific surface area of minerals, reduced particle size, and produced more hydroxyl groups that were conducive to the immobilization of As(III). Meanwhile, Ce(III) was oxidized to Ce(IV) during the formation of Ce-bearing hexagonal birnessite (Ce-HB), and CeO2 nanoparticles were formed on the mineral surface and the removal rate of As(III) by Ce-HB was greatly improved. When the As concentration was lower than 6 mg·L−1, the removal effect of Ce-HB could reach the drinking water standard. However, the oxidation rate decreased due to the decrease in the proportion of Mn(IV). This study fundamentally reveals the behavior of HB coexisting with Ce in the migration and transformation of As(III) in the environment.

An alternative to petrochemicals: biomass electrovalorization.

Replacing petrochemicals with refined waste biomass as a sustainable chemical source has become an attractive option to lower global carbon emissions. Popular methods of refining lignocellulosic waste biomass use thermochemical processes, which have significant environmental downsides. Using electrochemistry instead would overcome many of these downsides, directly driving chemical reactions with renewable electricity and revolutionizing the way many chemicals are produced today. This review mainly focuses on two furanic platform chemicals that are produced from the dehydration of cellulose, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural, which can be electrochemically reduced or oxidized to replace fuels and monomers that today are obtained from petrochemicals. Critical parameters such as electrode materials and electrolyte pH are discussed in relation to their influence on conversion efficiency and product distribution.This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'Green carbon for the chemical industry of the future'.

Investigations of thermal effects during pyrolysis of agro-forestry biomass and physicochemical characterizations of biofuel products

The development of biofuels from waste residues is critical due to higher emissions of greenhouse gases from petroleum and coal and rising energy demand. Converting agricultural and forestry biomass into biofuel products efficiently is a practical approach for simultaneously addressing renewable energy security and waste management challenges. This study examines the physicochemical characteristics of several agro-forestry residues such as camelina meal, mustard meal, flax straw, hemp straw and spruce wood to assess their suitability as feedstocks for pyrolysis to generate biochar, bio-oil and gases. An analysis was conducted to evaluate the influence of temperature (300–525 °C), heating rate (5–35 °C/min) and reaction time (30–75 min) to assess their impact on conversion efficiency and product distribution during pyrolysis. The optimal temperature, heating rate and reaction time for pyrolysis of camelina meal as a model biomass were determined to be 450 °C, 5 °C/min and 30 min, respectively. Physicochemical characteristics of biochar and bio-oil were analyzed to determine the impact of controlled thermal breakdown through slow pyrolysis. As the temperature increased, the calorific value, carbon content and thermal stability of biochar increased due to the removal of volatile matter and the development of aromatic carbon and phenolic features.

Effect of Cu doping on morphology and properties of calcium ferrite and its application as oxygen carrier in chemical looping hydrogen production

Chemical looping hydrogen production with inherent CO2 capture has been widely recognized as a clean and efficient approach to high-purity hydrogen production because of the ultra-pure H2 product without any purification facilities. It is crucial to develop oxygen carriers with better performance to improve fuel conversion and hydrogen production efficiency. The potential of Ca2Fe2O5 in steam converting has been confirmed. However, its lower oxygen transfer capacity, that is, it tends to produce lower fuel conversion in fuel reactors, which will limit its practical application. Here, we report the development of Cu-doped Ca2Fe2O5-based oxygen carriers using sol-gel technology. The effects of B-site substitution of Cu element on the morphological properties and redox properties of Ca2Fe2-xCuxO5 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1) oxygen carriers were evaluated based on experiments and density functional theory calculations. The results show that Cu doping not only elevated the surface oxygen content and enhanced the oxygen activity of the oxygen carriers, but also increased the Fe3+ at the B-site, thus enhanced their binding ability with oxygen molecules. Vacancy formation was a rate-determining step in the chemical looping hydrogen production (CLH), and Cu-doped Ca2Fe2O5 reduced the energy of oxygen vacancy formation. In the CLH process, the doping of Cu significantly improved the hydrogen productivity and fuel conversion rate. The fuel conversion rate was positively correlated with the doping amount of Cu. When x = 1, Ca2Fe2-xCuxO5 had the maximum fuel conversion rate, and its average conversion was 54.2% more than that of undoped Ca2Fe2O5. Ca2Fe2-xCuxO5 with x = 0.25 was the most suitable for CLH with the highest H2 yield, which was 20.3% more than that of Ca2Fe2O5. Moreover, its properties remained stable over multiple redox cycles with high activity and stability for CO-CLH.

ASSESSMENT OF GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE), GARLIC (ALLIUM SATIVUM), BLACKSEED (NIGELLA SATIVA), CLOVE (SYZYGIUM AROMATICUM) AND NUTMEG (MYRISTICA FRAGRANS) OILS ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, AND MORPHOMETRIC INDICES OF CLARIAS GARIEPINUS JUVENILES

Medicinal plant extracts, have been demonstrated to be efficient to replace chemical additives or antibiotics, decreasing metabolic waste production, and improving fillet quality. Thus, plants extracts have been widely studied to discover their potential use in aquaculture. Thus, this study was carried out to determine effect of essential oils extracted from Zingiber officinale (ginger, ZO), Allium sativum (garlic, AS), Nigella sativa (Black seed, NS), Myristica fragrans (nutmeg, AF) and Syzygium aromaticum (clove, SA) on growth performance and morphometric indices of Clarias gariepinus juveniles. Two hundred and fifty (250) juveniles of Clarias gariepinus of average weight 17.05 ± 0.02g were used for the experiment with 20 fish per treatment, replicated twice and fed at 3% body weight. Effects of the therapeutic oils were assessed using growth performance such as weight gain, feed conversion ratio and production productive index and morphometric parameters (standard length, total length, height, dorsal width) for the period of 56 days. Results indicated that dietary group T3 had the highest growth performance (30.34g) and survival rate (95%) among the treatments. Diets containing AS, SA, and MF oils had higher total length, standard length and heights when compared to the oil. The oils were observed to have positive effects on growth performance, and morphometric indices. By harnessing the benefits of these oils, fish farmers can improve the growth rates and reduce the reliance on synthetic additives and antibiotics, thus promoting environmentally friendly and health-conscious aquaculture practices.

Synthesis, Structure, and Properties of 1,3‐Diaryl‐7‐imino‐1,7‐dihydrobenzo[e][1,2,4]triazines: Products of Unexpected Conversion of Polyfluorinated Blatter Radicals

AbstractDerivatives of the first substituted 7‐imino‐1,7‐dihydrobenzo[e][1,2,4]triazines, namely 1‐(2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoropyridin‐4‐yl)‐N,3‐diphenyl‐7‐(phenylimino)‐1,7‐dihydrobenzo[e][1,2,4]triazin‐6‐amine and 1‐(pentafluorophenyl)‐N‐phenyl‐7‐(phenylimino)‐3‐(2,3,4,5‐tetrafluorophenyl)‐1,7‐dihydrobenzo[e][1,2,4]triazin‐6‐amine, were unexpectedly isolated as the only products in yields of about 20–30 % after an attempt to obtain Blatter radicals from the corresponding amidrazones bearing polyfluorinated electron‐withdrawing substituents. All new compounds were fully characterized, and their molecular and crystal structure was determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction.

Mutual Transformations of Polysulfide Chromophore Species in Sodalite-Group Minerals: A DFT Study on S6 Decomposition.

It is known that various polysulfide species determine the color of sodalite-group minerals (haüyne, lazurite, and slyudyankaite), and that heating induces their transformations and color change, but the mechanisms of the transitions are unknown. A prominent example is the decay of cyclic S6 molecule. Using density-functional simulations, we explore its main decay pathways into the most probable final reaction products (the pairs of radical anions S3⋅-+S3⋅- and S2⋅-+S4⋅-). It was found that the most favorable reaction path involves initial capture of one electron by the S6 molecule, which greatly facilitates its decay of S6 and leads to the opening of the S6 cycle, and subsequent decomposition of the thus formed chain radical anion, with a limiting energy barrier of ~0.4 eV. Neutral polysulfide molecules capture one electron with a significant energy reduction. The radical anions Sn⋅- (n=2-6) are the most stable ones among corresponding species with the same n values and different charges. The capture of the second electron by S6⋅- occurs with a huge energy barrier (~2 eV). The results of the DFT calculations are in agreement with experimental data on the products of thermal conversions of extra-framework S-bearing groups in sodalite-group minerals.

Numerical simulation of gasifier optimization for combined hydrogen production and carbon reduction in a chemical looping gasification (CLG) system

Chemical looping gasification (CLG) for combined hydrogen production and carbon capture represents a significant pathway for the clean, low-carbon utilization of traditional fossil fuels. Currently, a significant knowledge gap remains concerning the interplay between reactor configuration optimization and the complex gas–solid interactions in the CLG systems. This study integrates reactive computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method (CFD-DEM) simulations with a coarse-grained model (CGM) to analyze 3D coal-based CLG systems. The spatiotemporal distributions of gas–solid flow dynamics and thermochemical characteristics are revealed. It is found that increasing the gasifier height enhances fuel conversion and hydrogen production but compromises CO2 absorption. Smaller reactor diameters induce excessively rapid gas–solid flows, leading to incomplete fuel conversion and reduced hydrogen yield, while larger diameters cause uneven flows, significantly deteriorating hydrogen production and carbon absorption efficiency. Based on the simulation findings, the optimal height-to-diameter ratio for the gasifier in a CLG system is approximately 28.8, optimizing H2 production while maintaining efficient CO2 absorption. Moreover, the superficial gas velocity has a multifaceted influence on the hydrogen production and carbon reduction performance in the CLG process, necessitating a comprehensive consideration of its effects on fuel reaction time, gas–solid interactions, and other factors.

Pt/C electrocatalysts based on N-doped carbon materials from waste plant biomass

The N-doped carbon material obtained by thermochemical conversion of a polycondensation product of a liquid fraction of humins (a waste product of plant biomass conversion into furan derivatives) with the nitrogen-containing crosslinking component melamine was investigated as a support in Pt/C electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Deep learning performance prediction for solar-thermal-driven hydrogen production membrane reactor via bayesian optimized LSTM

The random fluctuation of solar energy poses significant challenges for direct solar utilization systems. Solar-driven membrane reactors (SMMR) are efficient devices for energy conversion and pure hydrogen production, featuring thermal inertia and complex physicochemical processes. To realize advance control of SMMR under solar variations to promote their practical application, accurate performance prediction is essential. This study develops a deep learning-assisted performance prediction model for SMMR using Bayesian optimized long short-term memory (BO-LSTM) network and weather classification. Time-series datasets with similar environmental features are generated through SMMR multi-physics modeling and trained by BO-LSTM. The BO-LSTM demonstrates high accuracy in both short-time (1-day) and long-time (40-day) predictions, with a correlation coefficient exceeding 0.997 and a deviation of ±0.0016 in long-term predictions. Weather classification ensures consistent prediction accuracy across different weather. Compared to RF, SVM, BPNN, and CNN models, BO-LSTM provides smoother prediction curves and significantly improves accuracy and stability, reducing RMSE by 44.6% on sunny days and 53.3% on cloudy days in short-time predictions, and by 56.7% and 68.0% in long-time predictions, respectively. The BO-LSTM proposed in this study accurately predicts SMMR performance under various weather, guiding practical applications and offering a reference for prediction and control in solar thermal utilization systems.

Research on the co-pyrolysis of biomass and coal

Abstract Co-pyrolysis of biomass and coal has attracted much attention as a potential energy conversion technology. In this paper, the significant effects of n-hexane insoluble substance (INS) on tar, water, and coke residue yields were analyzed in depth using statistical analysis. With INS and mixing ratio as independent variables, multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to comprehensively investigate the effects of the interaction between the two on the yields of different pyrolysis products, revealing the significant interaction between different pyrolysis products. The genetic algorithm was used to establish an optimization model to optimize the mixing ratios of the co-pyrolysis, and the considerable differences between the experimental and theoretically calculated values of the product yields of the co-pyrolysis compounds were analyzed by statistical tests, and subgroup analyses were carried out to determine the specific differences under different mixing ratios. CNN prediction model was established, and model optimization confirmed the differences between the experimental and theoretically calculated values for different pyrolytic coupling ratio-specific ratios by data validation and subgroup analysis. The further extension and optimization of the model provide a new theoretical basis and idea for further research on the co-pyrolysis of biomass and coal, which can help to improve the energy conversion efficiency and product quality.

Melanin resistance of heat-processed ginsenosides from Panax ginseng berry treated with citric acid through autophagy pathway

GFRS is the conversion product of Panax ginseng Meyer berry after citric acid heat treatment, which is rich in rare ginsenosides. However, the anti-melanin role of GFRS in the regulation of skin pigmentation and its material basis remains unclear. To compare the anti-melanin activity before and after citric acid heat treatment, we determined the effects of GFS and GFRS on tyrosinase activity and melanin lever under α-MSH stimulation and found the potential anti-melanin effect of GFRS. Further, Western blot and immunofluorescence methods were used to reveal the mechanism by which GFRS detects anti-melanin activity by promoting autophagy flux levels. In zebrafish models, GFRS inhibited endogenous melanin and tyrosinase better than arbutin and promoted the accumulation of autophagy levels in vivo. To determine the material basis of the anti-melanin effect of GFRS, HPLC was used to isolate and prepare 12 ginsenosides from GFRS, and their activity evaluation and structure–activity relationship analysis were performed. The results showed that the inhibitory effect of GFRS on melanin was Rg3 > Rg5 > Rk1 > Rd. Molecular docking showed that their docking fraction with mushroom tyrosinase was significantly better than that of arbutin, but the presence of C-20 glycosylation decreased the anti-melanin activity of Rd. To maximize the content of Rg3, Rg5, and Rk1, we optimized the process by using citric acid heat treatment of ginsenoside Rd and found that citric acid heat treatment at 100°C almost completely transformed Rd and obtained a high content of active ingredients. In summary, our data demonstrated that GFRS exerted anti-melanin effects by inducing autophagy. It was further revealed that Rg3, Rg5, and Rk1, as effective active components, could be enriched by the improved process of converting ginsenoside Rd by citric acid heat treatment.

Catalytic efficiency and kinetic analysis of manganese Polyoxometalate Heterogenized in MIL-100-Fe for selective Olefin oxidation using H2O2

In our previous study, we introduced a heterogeneous catalyst, denoted as H5[PMo11MnO39(H2O)]0.30@ [Fe3O(OH)(H2O)2[C6H3(CO2)3]2·8H2O (C1), through the encapsulation of a homogeneous polyoxometalate, H5[PMo11Mn(H2O)O39] (MnP), within a metal–organic framework [Fe3O(OH)(H2O)2[C6H3(CO2)3]2·14H2O (MIL-100-Fe). In the present study, we utilized the same catalyst for the oxidation of cyclohexene (CyH), cis-cyclooctene (CyO), styrene (Sty), and geraniol (Ger) in acetonitrile, employing H2O2 as a green oxidant. Kinetic studies were carried out to investigate the influence of substrate, H2O2, catalyst concentration, reaction time, temperature, and total H2O2 decompositions on oxidation and selectivity. C1 exhibited significantly higher efficiency in catalyzing the allylic oxidation of all substrates compared to individual components MnP and MIL-100-Fe, in terms of conversion percentage, rate constants, turnover numbers (TONs), H2O2 efficiencies, and product selectivity. Under optimized conditions, C1 achieved overall conversions of 85 %, 96 %, 98 %, and 100 % for CyH, CyO, Sty, and Ger, respectively. The harmonious catalytic function of polyoxometalates (POM) and metal-organic frameworks (MOF) in C1 also reduced the auto-decomposition of H₂O₂ which resulted into higher H2O2 efficiencies. Notably, the catalyst exhibited complete recoverability and reusability without any structural changes or loss of activity.

(Invited) Selective Glucose Conversion into Gluconic Acid By Dye-Sensitized Photoelectrochemical Cell

Gluconic acid, one of the valuable products of oxidized glucose projected to soon hit a market value of US$1.9 billion is currently produced using relatively expensive electrochemical, environmentally unsafe chemical or thermal selective oxidation methods to meet market demand. Dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (DSPECs) which has effectively been utilized for selective biomass conversion into other valuable products (alongside hydrogen evolution) is a cheaper, greener and safer alternative unexplored in this field. Herein, we explore this green technology for selective oxidation of glucose into gluconic acid in an aqueous system, employing metal-free organic dye (E)-3-(5-(4-(bis(2',4'-dibutoxy-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl) amino) phenyl) thiophen-2-yl)-2-cyanoacrylic acid (D35) with organic catalyst (4-Acetamido-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl) ACT at 0 V vs NHE. Photophysical details revealed the occurrence of intermolecular electron transfer between D35 and ACT under 1 sun illumination (100 mW/cm²). Enhanced generation of the strongly oxidizing reactive oxoammonium species, ACT+, by the photoanode drives the conversion of glucose into gluconic acid. The photoanode assembly employed exhibited remarkable stability, sustaining a continuous operation for 3 days and 88% selectivity for gluconic acid at pH 7. The aqueous phase stability, selectivity, neutral environment and ambient operation of the setup indicates it potential for biomass conversion and hydrogen production towards commercialization purposes.