Pd/NiMoO4/NF electrocatalysts for the efficient and ultra-stable synthesis and electrolyte-assisted extraction of glycolate

Kai Shi; Di Si; Xue Teng; Lisong Chen; Jianlin Shi

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-47179-7

Pd/NiMoO₄/NF electrocatalysts for the efficient and ultra-stable synthesis and electrolyte-assisted extraction of glycolate

Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 4;15(1):2899. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47179-7.

Authors

Kai Shi¹, Di Si¹, Xue Teng¹, Lisong Chen^{2

3}, Jianlin Shi⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular & Process engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular & Process engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China. lschen@chem.ecnu.edu.cn.
³ Institute of Eco-Chongming, Shanghai, 202162, China. lschen@chem.ecnu.edu.cn.
⁴ Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, P. R. China.

Abstract

Electrocatalytic conversion of organic small molecules is a promising technique for value-added chemical productions but suffers from high precious metal consumption, poor stability of electrocatalysts and tedious product separation. Here, a Pd/NiMoO₄/NF electrocatalyst with much lowered Pd loading amount (3.5 wt.%) has been developed for efficient, economic, and ultra-stable glycolate synthesis, which shows high Faradaic efficiency (98.9%), yield (98.8%), and ultrahigh stability (1500 h) towards electrocatalytic ethylene glycol oxidation. Moreover, the obtained glycolic acid has been converted to value-added sodium glycolate by in-situ acid-base reaction in the NaOH electrolyte, which is atomic efficient and needs no additional acid addition for product separation. Moreover, the weak adsorption of sodium glycolate on the catalyst surface plays a significant role in avoiding excessive oxidation and achieving high selectivity. This work may provide instructions for the electrocatalyst design as well as product separation for the electrocatalytic conversions of alcohols.