Organic interfacial engineering of gold nanowires for selective glycerol electrooxidation

The selective electrochemical conversion of glycerol into value-added products is a green and sustainable strategy for the biomass utilization.In this work,Au nanowires(Au-NW)modified with polyethyleneimine(PEI)molecule(Au-NW@PEI)is obtained by an up-bottom post-modification approach.Physical characterization,molecular dynamics simulation and density functional theory demonstrate that the loose-packed PEI monolayer firmly and uniformly distribute on the Au-NW surface due to the strong Au-N interaction.Electrochemical experiments and product analysis display that PEI modification significantly enhance the electro-activity of Au-NW for the glycerol electro-oxidation reaction(GEOR)due to the electronic effect.Meanwhile,the steric hindrance and electrostatic effect of PEI layer make the optimizing adsorption of intermediates possible.Therefore,the selectivity of C3 product glyceric acid over Au-NW@PEI is increased by nearly 20%.The work thus indicates that the rational design of metal-organic interface can effectively elevate the electro-activity and selectivity of Au nanostructures,which may have wide application in biomass development.

Alloyed Pt-Sn nanoparticles on hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon nanocages for advanced glycerol electrooxidation

Glycerol is an alternative sustainable fuel for fuel cells,and efficient electrocatalyst is crucial for glycerol oxidation reaction(GOR).The promising Pt catalysts are subject to the inadequate capability of C-C bond cleavage and the susceptibility to poisoning.Herein,Pt-Sn alloyed nanoparticles are immobilized on hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon nanocages(hNCNCs)by convenient ethylene glycol reduction and subsequent thermal reduction.The optimal Pt_(3)Sn/hNCNC catalyst exhibits excellent GOR performance with a high mass activity(5.9 A·mg_(Pt)^(-1)),which is 2.7 and 5.4 times higher than that of Pt/hNCNC and commercial Pt/C,respectively.Such an enhancement can be mainly ascribed to the increased anti-poisoning and C-C bond cleavage capability due to the Pt_(3)Sn alloying effect and Sn-enriched surface,the high dispersion of Pt_(3)Sn active species due to N-participation,as well as the high accessibility of Pt_(3)Sn active species due to the three-dimensional(3D)hierarchical architecture of hNCNC.This study provides an effective GOR electrocatalyst and convenient approach for catalyst preparation.

Recent advances in glycerol valorization via electrooxidation:Catalyst,mechanism and device

Glycerol is one of the most important biomass-based platform molecules,massively produced as a by-product in the biodiesel industry.Its high purification cost from the crude glycerol raw material limits its application and demands new strategies for valorization.Compared to the conventional thermocatalytic strategies,the electrocatalytic strategies can not only enable the selective conversion at mild conditions but also pair up the cathodic reactions for the co-production with higher efficiencies.In this review,we summarize the recent advances of catalyst designs and mechanistic understandings for the electrocatalytic glycerol oxidation(GOR),and aim to provide an overview of the GOR process and the intrinsic structural-activity correlation for inspiring future work in this field.The review is dissected into three sections.We will first introduce the recent efforts of designing more efficient and selective catalysts for GOR,especially toward the production of value-added products.Then,we will summarize the current understandings about the reaction network based on the ex-situ and in-situ spectroscopic studies as well as the theoretical works.Lastly,we will select some representative examples of creating real electrochemical devices for the valorization of glycerol.By summarizing these previous efforts,we will provide our vision of future directions in the field of GOR toward real applications.

Bifunctional Mn-doped CoSe_(2) nanonetworks electrode for hybrid alkali/acid electrolytic H_(2) generation and glycerol upgrading

Electrolytic water splitting,as a promising route to hydrogen(H_(2))production,is still confronted with the sluggish anodic oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and its less value-added O2 production.Herein,we report a bifunctional electrode fabricated by in situ growth of Mn-doped CoSe_(2)nanonetworks on carbon fiber cloth(Mn-CoSe_(2)/CFC),which shows attractive electrocatalytic properties toward glycerol oxidation reaction(GOR)in alkali and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)in acid.A flow alkali/acid hybrid electrolytic cell(fA/A-hEC)was then developed by coupling anodic GOR with cathodic HER with the Mn-CoSe_(2)/CFC bifunctional electrode.Such fA/A-hEC enables a rather low voltage of 0.54 V to achieve 10 mA cm^(-2),and maintain long-term electrolysis stability over 300-h operation at 100 mA cm^(-2)with Faraday efficiencies of over 99%for H_(2)and 90%for formate production.The designed bifunctional electrode in such innovative fA/A-hEC device provides insightful guidance for coupling energy-efficient hydrogen production with biomass upgradation.