Rhenium-Doped Antimony Trioxide for Biomass Sucrose Upcycling to Generate Formic Acid Coupling Hydrogen Evolution.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Biomass sucrose conversion to high-value formic acid (FA) via sucrose oxidative reaction (SOR) is significant.
• Developing efficient electrocatalysts is crucial for sustainable biomass upcycling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize rhenium-doped antimony oxide (Re-Sb2O3) nanoblocks for enhanced electrocatalytic performance.
• To investigate the potential of Re-Sb2O3 in the sucrose oxidative reaction (SOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of Re-Sb2O3 nanoblocks by doping rhenium into Sb2O3.
• Electrocatalytic performance evaluation for SOR and HER in 1 M KOH + 0.1 M sucrose.
• Characterization using 1H NMR to confirm product formation and Faradaic efficiency (FE).

Main Results:

• Re-Sb2O3 exhibited a low SOR potential (1.28 V at 10 mA cm-2) and HER overpotential (173 mV at 10 mA cm-2).
• Performance surpassed Sb2O3 and commercial RuO2 and Pt/C catalysts.
• Achieved a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 87.7% for FA production at 1.6 V.

Conclusions:

• Re-Sb2O3 demonstrates superior electrocatalytic activity for sucrose oxidative reaction (SOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
• This work presents a viable strategy for biomass sucrose upcycling into formic acid, linking to green hydrogen production.