Recent progress in advanced catalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogenation of organics in aqueous conditions
Ye Zeng,
Mengting Zhao,
Hongliang Zeng,
Qiu Jiang,
Fangwang Ming,
Kai Xi,
Zhoucheng Wang,
Hanfeng Liang
Affiliations
Ye Zeng
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Mengting Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Hongliang Zeng
School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Qiu Jiang
School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; Yangtze Delta Region Institute (Huzhou), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Huzhou, China; Corresponding authors.
Fangwang Ming
Materials Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia
Kai Xi
School of Chemistry, Xi'an Key Laboratory of Sustainable Energy Materials Chemistry, Engineering Research Center of Energy Storage Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory for Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China; Corresponding authors.
Zhoucheng Wang
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Hanfeng Liang
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China; Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen 361005, China; Corresponding authors.
Electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) of organics using water as hydrogen donors has been regarded as a green organic reduction technique to replace traditional chemical reactions that use sacrificial chemicals. The development of ECH process provides potential applications in the production of value-added chemicals owing to its low energy consumption, low pollution, high safety, and superior sustainability. However, its application is limited by the low conversion rate and poor selectivity toward desired products. The efficiency of ECH can be improved by rational design of electrocatalysts. This review covers several representative electrocatalytic systems (aldehydes, ketones, phenolic organics, alkynes, and organonitrogen compounds) and summarizes different ECH mechanisms, followed by thorough discussion on the modification strategies of electrocatalysts that are currently adopted to enhance the catalytic performance. Finally, in view of the current challenges for ECH, we discuss possible future directions in the field, aiming to provide guidance to the catalyst design toward highly efficient ECH reactions over different organic feedstocks.
