Photoelectrochemical Epoxidation of Cyclohexene on an α-Fe2O3 Photoanode Using Water as the Oxygen Source

Meysam Tayebi; Zohreh Masoumi; Ahmad Tayyebi; Jun-Hwan Kim; Hyungwoo Lee; Bongkuk Seo; Choong-Sun Lim; Hyeon-Gook Kim

doi:10.1021/acsami.2c22603

Photoelectrochemical Epoxidation of Cyclohexene on an α-Fe₂O₃ Photoanode Using Water as the Oxygen Source

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Apr 26;15(16):20053-20063. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c22603. Epub 2023 Apr 11.

Authors

Meysam Tayebi¹, Zohreh Masoumi², Ahmad Tayyebi³, Jun-Hwan Kim¹, Hyungwoo Lee¹, Bongkuk Seo¹, Choong-Sun Lim¹, Hyeon-Gook Kim¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Advanced Specialty Chemicals, Division of Specialty and Bio-Based Chemicals Technology, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 45 Jonggaro, Ulsan 44412, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, University of Ulsan, Daehakro 93, Namgu, Ulsan 44610, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST-gil, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.

PMID: 37040426
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c22603

Abstract

This study developed a safe and sustainable route for the epoxidation of cyclohexene using water as the source of oxygen at room temperature and ambient pressure. Here, we optimized the cyclohexene concentration, volume of solvent/water (CH₃CN, H₂O), time, and potential on the photoelectrochemical (PEC) cyclohexene oxidation reaction of the α-Fe₂O₃ photoanode. The α-Fe₂O₃ photoanode epoxidized cyclohexene to cyclohexene oxide with a 72.4 ± 3.6% yield and a 35.2 ± 1.6% Faradaic efficiency of 0.37 V vs Fc/Fc⁺ (0.8 V_Ag/AgCl) under 100 mW cm^-2. Furthermore, the irradiation of light (PEC) decreased the applied voltage of the electrochemical cell oxidation process by 0.47 V. This work supplies an energy-saving and environment-benign approach for producing value-added chemicals coupled with solar fuel generation. Epoxidation with green solvents via PEC methods has a high potential for different oxidation reactions of value-added and fine chemicals.

Keywords: PEC epoxidation; cyclohexene oxide; hydrogen; organic substrate; α-Fe2O3 photoanode.