Electrocatalysis Boosts the Methanol Thermocatalytic Dehydrogenation for High-Purity H<sub>2</sub> and CO Production
Yujie Wu, Gen Huang, Shiqian Du, Miaoyu Li, Qie Liu, Yangyang Zhou, Zuyao Jiang, Xiaorong Zhu, Yuqing Wang, Tehua Wang, Tao Li, Shuangyin Wang
Abstract
Hydrogen production from methanol represents an energy-sustainable way to produce ethanol, but it normally results in heavy CO 2 emissions. The selective conversion of methanol into H 2 and valuable chemical feedstocks offers a promising strategy; however, it is limited by the harsh operating conditions and low conversion efficiency. Herein, we realize efficient high-purity H 2 and CO production from methanol by coupling the thermocatalytic methanol dehydrogenation with electrocatalytic hydrogen oxidation on a bifunctional Ru/C catalyst. Electrocatalysis enables the acceleration of C–H cleavage and reduces the partial pressure of hydrogen at the anode, which drives the chemical equilibrium and significantly enhances methanol dehydrogenation. Furthermore, a bilayer Ru/C + Pd/C electrode is designed to mitigate CO poisoning and facilitate hydrogen oxidation. As a result, a high yield of H 2 (558.54 mmol h –1 g –1 ) with high purity (99.9%) was achieved by integrating an applied cell voltage of 0.4 V at 200 °C, superior to the conventional thermal and electrocatalytic processes, and CO is the main product at the anode. This work presents a new avenue for efficient H 2 production together with valuable chemical synthesis from methanol.