Cu-Based Bimetallic Catalysts for Electrocatalytic Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Furfural with Practical Rates

Electrocatalytic oxidative dehydrogenation (EOD) of aldehydesenablesultra-low voltage, bipolar H-2 production with co-generationof carboxylic acid. Herein, we reported a simple galvanic replacementmethod to prepare CuM (M = Pt, Pd, Au, and Ag) bimetallic catalyststo improve the EOD of furfural to reach industrially relevant currentdensities. The redox potential difference between Cu/Cu2+ and a noble metal M/My+ can incorporate the noble metalon the Cu surface and enlarge its surface area. Particularly, dispersingPt in Cu (CuPt) achieved a record-high current density of 498 mA cm(-2) for bipolar H-2 production at a low cellvoltage of 0.6 V and a Faradaic efficiency of >80% to H-2. Future research is needed to deeply understand the synergisticeffects of Cu-M toward EOD of furfural, and improve the Cu-Mcatalyst stability, thus offering great opportunities for future distributedmanufacturing of green hydrogen and carbon chemicals with practicalrates and low-carbon footprints.