Upcycling PET Coupled with Energy‐Saving H <sub>2</sub> Production from Seawater at Asymmetric Active Center
Kai Ye, Can Xu, Li Liu, Junjie Gao, Chun Zhang, Buyuan Tan, Bin Fang, Wensheng Fu, Xiaohui Yang, Yu Wang
Abstract
Abstract Electrochemically upcycling polyethylene‐terephthalate (PET)‐derived ethylene glycol (EG) into high‐value glycolic acid (GA) with H 2 production elegantly addresses the dual challenges of clean energy production and plastic recycling. Herein, an electrocatalyst of Ru‐(CoCu) 2 V 2 O 7 @Cu 2 O is reported, where the Co─O─Ru asymmetric active center triggers the dynamic electronic delocalization is constructed. Such innovative design facilitates the designated bonding of key intermediates for * OCCH 2 OH and * OH at the Ru and Co sites during EG oxidation reactions (EGOR), respectively, while maintaining the integrity of C─C bond. As a result, the Ru‐(CoCu) 2 V 2 O 7 @Cu 2 O demonstrates remarkable performance for EGOR, requiring only 0.68 V @RHE to reach 100 mA cm −2 , reducing energy consumption by 60.1% compared to the traditional oxygen evolution. Notably, under industrial conditions (1.0 V @RHE , ≈600 mA cm −2 ), it still maintains a Faraday efficiency of 96.6% and a selectivity of 93.5% for GA, breaking through the performance bottleneck of existing catalytic systems. Implemented at 200 mA cm −2 in a flow cell, this system converts PET hydrolysate into GA (0.0299 mmol min −1 ) and produces H 2 (1.531 mL min −1 ) from natural seawater simultaneously, with exceptional stability of <12% decay after 120 h at 100 mA cm −2 . This work establishes an innovative paradigm for synergistic plastic upcycling and green hydrogen production.