Manipulating hydrogenation pathways enables economically viable electrocatalytic aldehyde-to-alcohol valorization

Electrocatalytic reduction (ECR) of furfural represents a sustainable route for biomass valorization. Unfortunately, traditional Cu-catalyzed ECR suffers from diversified product distribution and industrial-incompatible production rates, mainly caused by the intricate mechanism−performance relationship. Here, we manipulate hydrogenation pathways on Cu by introducing ceria as an auxiliary component, which enables the mechanism switching from proton-coupled electron transfer to electrochemical hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) and thus high-speed furfural-to-furfuryl alcohol electroconversion. Theoretical and kinetic analyses show that oxygen-vacancy-rich ceria delivers an efficient formation−diffusion−hydrogenation…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22361162665, 22202212, 22025208, 22025208 22361162665, 22373055, 22432006
• TU
  Tsinghua University