In situ grown oxygen-vacancy-rich copper oxide nanosheets on a copper foam electrode afford the selective oxidation of alcohols to value-added chemicals

Abstract

Converting low-molecular-weight aliphatic alcohols like methanol and ethanol into value-added chemicals such as carboxylates in electrolytic cells offers low operating costs, but non-noble-metal catalysts often bring about low selectivities and overoxidation to CO2. Here, the authors report the efficient and selective electrooxidation of ethanol and methanol into acetate and formate on in-situ generated oxygen-vacancies-rich CuO nanosheets on a copper foam via ultrasonication-assisted acid-etching.