Self‐Sustainable Production of Hydrogen, Chemicals, and Energy from Renewable Alcohols by Electrocatalysis

Abstract

The selective and simultaneous production of hydrogen and chemicals from renewable alcohols, such as ethanol, glycerol, and ethylene glycol, can be accomplished by means of electrolyzers in which the anode electrocatalyst is appropriately designed to promote the partial and selective oxidation of the alcohol. In the electrolyzers described herein, the production of 1 kg of hydrogen from aqueous ethanol occurs with one-third the amount of energy required by a traditional H(2)/O(2) electrolyzer, by virtue of the much lower oxidation potential of ethanol to acetate vs. water to oxygen in alkaline media (E(0)=0.10 V vs. 1.23 V). The self-sustainability of H(2) production is ensured by the simultaneous production of 25 kg of potassium acetate for every kg of H(2), if the promoting co-electrolyte is KOH.

Electrochemical Coproduction of Acrylate and Hydrogen from 1,3-Propandiol

“…The electrical energy thus produced can be fed back into the electroreformer further increasing the energy efficiency of the process. 13 Anion exchange membrane (AEM) alcohol electroformers operate in an alkaline environment oxidizing at the anode of an electrochemical cell an alcohol and evolving hydrogen at the cathode ( Figure 1). Hydrogen production occurs at energy costs of less than half when compared to state of the art water electrolyzers.…”

Energy Efficiency of Alkaline Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells Employing Nanostructured Palladium Electrocatalysts

“…DEFCs equipped with Pd anodes can produce peak power densities of over 100 mW cm À2 . [19][20][21][22] At af irst look, incomplete oxidation of ethanol is an evident drawback as only 4o ft he possible 12 electrons are obtained. Indeed, complete oxidationw ould certainly be beneficial as it would allow,i np rinciple, ab etter exploitation of the energy content of ethanol.…”

Deactivation of Palladium Electrocatalysts for Alcohols Oxidation in Basic Electrolytes

“…Nanostructured palladium has been recently employed as electrocatalyst for the catalytic oxidation of alcohols in alkaline Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells (DAFC) [1][2][3][4][5] as well as in the electrochemical reforming of bioalcohols [6,7].…”