Abstract

An electrocatalytic glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) holds the promise of upcycling excess glycerol from biodiesel production directly into precious hydrocarbon commodities that are worth more than the glycerol feedstock. Despite years of research on the GOR, the synthesis process of nanoscale electrocatalysts still involves (1) prohibitive heat input, (2) expensive vacuum chambers, and (3) emission of toxic liquid pollutants. Here, we develop a laser-assisted nanomaterial preparation (LANP) process to fabricate bimetallic nanocatalysts (1) at room temperature, (2) under an ambient atmosphere, and (3) without liquid waste emission. Specifically, PdCu nanoparticles supported on few-layer graphene can be prepared using this one-step LANP method with performance that can rival state-of-the-art GOR catalysts. Beyond exhibiting high GOR activity, the LANP-fabricated PdCu/C nanomaterials with optimized Pd:Cu ratio further deliver an exclusive product selectivity of up to 99% for partially oxidized C3 products. This dry LANP method is envisioned to afford sustainable production of multimetallic nanoparticles continuously as efficient electrocatalysts for other redox reactions with intricate proton-coupled electron transfer steps that are central to the widespread deployment of renewable energy schemes and carbon-neutral technologies.

OrgMat-67-HKU-Tse-Mo-Poster

References:

1. Mo, X., Chan, K. C., Tse, E. C. M. Chem. Mater. 2019, 31, 8230−8238.
2. Mo, X., Gao. X., Gillado, A., Chen, H.-Y., Chen, Y., Guo, Z., Wu, H.-L., Tse, E. C. M. ACS Nano, 2022, 16, 12202–12213.