Organic oxidation-assisted hydrogen production: glycerol electroreforming to formate on nickel diselenide nanoparticles

The energy efficiency of water electrolysis is limited by the sluggish kinetics of the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which simultaneously produces a low-value product, oxygen. A promising strategy to address this challenge is to replace OER with a more favorable oxidation reaction that yie...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Yang, Longcheng, Ma, Yi, Yu, Jing, Arbiol, Jordi, Li, Junshan, Cabot, Andreu
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/397783
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/397783
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105011680941
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Electrocatalysis
Formate, glycerol oxidation
Glycerol reforming
Hydrogen production
Nickel diselenide
Descripción
Sumario:The energy efficiency of water electrolysis is limited by the sluggish kinetics of the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which simultaneously produces a low-value product, oxygen. A promising strategy to address this challenge is to replace OER with a more favorable oxidation reaction that yields a valuable co-product. In this study, we investigate the electrochemical reforming of glycerol in alkaline media to simultaneously produce hydrogen at a Pt cathode and formate at a NiSe₂ anode. The NiSe₂ electrode achieves a glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) current density of up to 100 mA cm-2 in a 1 M KOH solution containing 1 M glycerol, significantly outperforming a reference elemental Ni electrode. Both electrodes exhibit high Faradaic efficiencies (FE), achieving around 93 % for formate production at an applied potential of 1.6 V vs. RHE. To rationalize this exceptional performance, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted, revealing that the incorporation of Se into NiSe₂ enhances the glycerol adsorption and modulates the electron density, thereby lowering the energy barrier for the initial dehydrogenation step in the formate formation pathway. These findings provide valuable insights for the design of cost-effective, high-performance electrocatalysts for organic oxidation-assisted hydrogen production, advancing a more sustainable and economically attractive route for hydrogen generation and chemical valorization.