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Published on: October 18, 2018
Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Upgrading Organic Compounds via Electrooxidation in Electricity-Input Mode and
Jiamin Ma1, Keyu Chen1, Jigang Wang2
1College of Biological, Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314001, China.
Electrochemical oxidative upgrading reactions (OUR) offer efficient pathways for creating valuable chemicals and energy. This review highlights recent advancements in coupling OUR with hydrogen evolution or CO2 reduction, and electricity generation.
Area of Science:
- Electrochemistry
- Organic Synthesis
- Energy Conversion
Background:
- Electrochemical oxidative upgrading reactions (OUR) are gaining interest for their efficiency and selectivity in producing value-added chemicals.
- OUR can substitute oxygen evolution reactions (OER) and integrate with hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) or CO2 electroreduction reactions (CO2RR) in electricity-input systems.
- Alternatively, OUR can be used in primary cells for simultaneous chemical and electricity generation (electricity-output mode).
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize recent progress and milestones in electrochemical oxidative upgrading of organic compounds.
- To highlight the integration of OUR with HER or CO2RR for chemical synthesis.
- To review the application of OUR in primary cells for co-generating chemicals and electricity.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent literature on electrochemical oxidative upgrading reactions.
- Emphasis on catalyst design, mechanism identification, and system configuration for OUR.
- Analysis of OUR integration with HER, CO2RR, and electricity generation systems.
Main Results:
- Significant advancements in OUR for high-value-added chemical production.
- Demonstrated potential for OUR in co-generating hydrogen and/or converting CO2 in electrolyzers.
- Successful application of OUR in primary cells for simultaneous chemical and electricity generation.
Conclusions:
- Electrochemical oxidative upgrading is a promising technology for sustainable chemical synthesis and energy conversion.
- Further research is needed to advance OUR integration with HER/CO2RR and electricity generation from laboratory to industrial scale.
- Future perspectives focus on optimizing catalysts, understanding mechanisms, and configuring efficient systems for OUR applications.
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