Efficient industrial-current-density acetylene to polymer-grade ethylene via hydrogen-localization transfer over fluorine-modified copper.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38104169.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-44171-5 and PMC identifier 10725425.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Electrocatalytic acetylene semi-hydrogenation to ethylene powered by renewable electricity represents a sustainable pathway, but the inadequate current density and single-pass yield greatly impedes the production efficiency and industrial application. Herein, we develop a F-modified Cu catalyst that shows an industrial partial current density up to 0.76 A cm<sup>-2</sup> with an ethylene Faradic efficiency surpass 90%, and the maximum single-pass yield reaches a notable 78.5%. Furthermore, the Cu-F showcase the capability to directly convert acetylene into polymer-grade ethylene in a tandem flow cell, almost no acetylene residual in the production. Combined characterizations and calculations reveal that the Cu<sup>δ+</sup> (near fluorine) enhances the water dissociation, and the generated active hydrogen are immediately transferred to Cu<sup>0</sup> (away from fluorine) and react with the locally adsorbed acetylene. Therefore, the hydrogen evolution reaction is surpassed and the overall acetylene semi-hydrogenation performance is boosted. Our findings provide new opportunity towards rational design of catalysts for large-scale electrosynthesis of ethylene and other important industrial raw.