Cu-Based Bimetallic Catalysts for Electrocatalytic Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Furfural with Practical Rates
Hengzhou Liu, Jiaqi Yu, Yifu Chen, Jungkuk Lee, Wenyu Huang, Wenzhen Li
Abstract
Electrocatalytic oxidative dehydrogenation (EOD) of aldehydes enables ultra-low voltage, bipolar H 2 production with co-generation of carboxylic acid. Herein, we reported a simple galvanic replacement method to prepare CuM (M = Pt, Pd, Au, and Ag) bimetallic catalysts to improve the EOD of furfural to reach industrially relevant current densities. The redox potential difference between Cu/Cu 2+ and a noble metal M/M y+ can incorporate the noble metal on the Cu surface and enlarge its surface area. Particularly, dispersing Pt in Cu (CuPt) achieved a record-high current density of 498 mA cm –2 for bipolar H 2 production at a low cell voltage of 0.6 V and a Faradaic efficiency of >80% to H 2 . Future research is needed to deeply understand the synergistic effects of Cu–M toward EOD of furfural, and improve the Cu–M catalyst stability, thus offering great opportunities for future distributed manufacturing of green hydrogen and carbon chemicals with practical rates and low-carbon footprints.