Pulse potential mediated selectivity for the electrocatalytic oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38499522.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-46752-4 and PMC identifier 10948758.
- 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
Preventing the deactivation of noble metal-based catalysts due to self-oxidation and poisonous adsorption is a significant challenge in organic electro-oxidation. In this study, we employ a pulsed potential electrolysis strategy for the selective electrocatalytic oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid over a Pt-based catalyst. In situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, quasi-in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and finite element simulations reveal that the pulsed potential could tailor the catalyst's oxidation and surface micro-environment. This prevents the overaccumulation of poisoning intermediate species and frees up active sites for the re-adsorption of OH adsorbate and glycerol. The pulsed potential electrolysis strategy results in a higher glyceric acid selectivity (81.8%) than constant-potential electrocatalysis with 0.7 V<sub>RHE</sub> (37.8%). This work offers an efficient strategy to mitigate the deactivation of noble metal-based electrocatalysts.