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Updated: May 5, 2026

Reductive Electropolymerization of a Vinyl-containing Poly-pyridyl Complex on Glassy Carbon and Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide Electrodes
Published on: January 30, 2015
Sulfur-Stabilized High Entropy Oxysulfides Enable Efficient CC Bond Cleavage in Ethylene Glycol Electrooxidation for
Saikat Bolar1, Akitaka Ito1, Chunyu Yuan1
1School of Engineering Science, Kochi University of Technology, Kami City, Kochi, Japan.
Abstract:
The conversion of plastic waste into value-added chemicals coupled with energy-efficient H2 production is a sustainable strategy for addressing environmental and energy challenges, for example, the selective electrooxidation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-derived ethylene glycol (EG) to C1 products via CC bond cleavage is important for advancing PET electro-reforming. Herein, a high-entropy transition metal oxysulfide is synthesized through the one-step room-temperature incorporation of S into a high-entropy transition metal oxide and evaluated as a catalyst for EG electrooxidation under alkaline conditions. Covalently bound S stabilizes O vacancies and high-valence transition metal states through defect-induced charge redistribution, enhancing lattice stability and promoting the establishment of an advantageous electronic structure. The developed catalyst is highly active, selective, and durable, achieving efficient CC bond cleavage and formic acid production with a faradaic efficiency of 84.6%. S incorporation enhances both lattice-oxygen and adsorbed-oxygen mechanism pathways for CC bond cleavage and accelerates hydrogen atom transfer, thereby enabling concerted formate formation. Replacing the anodic O2 evolution reaction with EG electrooxidation markedly reduces the required cell voltage, highlighting the high-entropy oxysulfide's promise as an electrocatalyst for plastic upcycling and energy-efficient green H2 generation.
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