Electrosynthesis of ethylene glycol from C1 feedstocks in a flow electrolyzer.

Autor: Xia, Rong, Wang, Ruoyu, Hasa, Bjorn, Lee, Ahryeon, Liu, Yuanyue, Ma, Xinbin, Jiao, Feng
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Communications; 7/29/2023, Vol. 14 Issue 1, p1-11, 11p
Abstrakt: Ethylene glycol is a widely utilized commodity chemical, the production of which accounts for over 46 million tons of CO2 emission annually. Here we report a paired electrocatalytic approach for ethylene glycol production from methanol. Carbon catalysts are effective in reducing formaldehyde into ethylene glycol with a 92% Faradaic efficiency, whereas Pt catalysts at the anode enable formaldehyde production through methanol partial oxidation with a 75% Faradaic efficiency. With a membrane-electrode assembly configuration, we show the feasibility of ethylene glycol electrosynthesis from methanol in a single electrolyzer. The electrolyzer operates a full cell voltage of 3.2 V at a current density of 100 mA cm−2, with a 60% reduction in energy consumption. Further investigations, using operando flow electrolyzer mass spectroscopy, isotopic labeling, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, indicate that the desorption of a *CH2OH intermediate is the crucial step in determining the selectively towards ethylene glycol over methanol. Ethylene glycol is an important commodity chemical and its production results in millions of tons of CO2 emissions annually. Here, the authors report a paired electrocatalytic strategy to produce ethylene glycol from methanol with a high Faradaic efficiency at industrial scale current density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index