Electro-Oxidation of Glycerol into Formic Acid by Nickel-Copper Electrocatalysts

Herein, non-precious metallic nickel-copper electrocatalysts were synthesized for electro-oxidation of glycerol in alkaline electrolytes. Activated carbon felt (ACF) is used as a supporting material because of its good conductivity, chemical inertness, and porous structure which is conducive to the transport of the reactants/electrons. The structural features of the catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical activity of the catalysts was revealed by cyclic voltammetry, linear sweeping voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. The electrochemical results show that the Cu1Ni1@ACF catalyst possesses the highest current density of 1.31 mA cm(-2) at 1.895 V. High-performance liquid chromatography results show that the as-prepared catalysts have high selectivities for formic acid (FA). Especially, the Cu1Ni1@ACF catalyst yields a selectivity of 97.4% for FA, which has so far been the largest value reported in the literature. Additionally, the effects of applied potentials and reaction time on product selectivity were studied.

Automated summary

In this study, non-precious metallic nickel-copper electrocatalysts were synthesized for the oxidation of glycerol in alkaline electrolytes. The catalysts' structural features were characterized and their electrochemical activity and product selectivity were investigated, with the Cu1Ni1@ACF catalyst showing the highest selectivity of 97.4% for formic acid.