Accelerating H<sub>2</sub> Evolution by Anodic Semi‐dehydrogenation of Tetrahydroisoquinolines in Water over Co<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Nanoribbon Arrays Decorated Nickel Foam
Ming Xiang, Zhihua Xu, Jing‐Hao Wang, Xiaoqiu Yang, Zhaoxiong Yan
Abstract
Abstract Coupling the H 2 evolution reaction in water with thermodynamically favorable organic oxidation reactions is highly desirable, because it can enhance the energy conversion efficiency compared with electrocatalytic water splitting, and produce value‐added chemicals instead of O 2 in the anodic reaction. Herein, Co 3 O 4 nanoribbon arrays in situ grown on nickel foam (Co 3 O 4 @NF) was employed as an effective electrocatalyst for the selective oxidation of tetrahydroisoquinolines (THIQs). Various value‐added semi‐dehydrogenation products including dihydroisoquinolines with electro‐deficient or ‐rich groups could be obtained with moderate yields and faradaic efficiencies. Benefitting from the rich surface active sites of Co 3 O 4 @NF, a two‐electrode (Co 3 O 4 @NF||Pt) electrolytic system drove a benchmark current density of 10 mA cm −2 at a cell voltage as low as 1.446 V in 1.0 M KOH aqueous solution containing 0.02 M THIQ, which was reduced by 174 mV in comparison with that of overall water splitting.