Nano Select (May 2021)

High‐efficiency electrolysis of biomass and its derivatives: Advances in anodic oxidation reaction mechanism and transition metal‐based electrocatalysts

  • Ying Li,
  • Zhiya Dang,
  • Pingqi Gao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/nano.202000227
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 5
pp. 847 – 864

Abstract

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Abstract The sluggish kinetics of the anode oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limits the efficiency of water electrolysis. An efficient way to break this bottleneck is to replace the OER with biomass and its derivative electro‐oxidation reaction (BEOR). By converting the widely distributed biomass based organic molecules into value‐added chemicals at the anode and simultaneously producing hydrogen efficiently at the cathode, biomass electrolysis possesses unprecedented advantages of renewability, ecological protection, abundant resources and low cost. Herein, we firstly discussed the progress in exploring the electro‐oxidation mechanism of several representative biomasses based organic molecules (such as alcohol, aldehyde, urea, amine, lignin). Then, the transition metal‐based catalysts developed for the BEOR are systematically summarized. Finally, the development prospects and challenges in this field are introduced. This review aims to provide a reference for the design of high‐efficiency biomass electrolyzer with stable and effective transition metal‐based electrocatalysts.

Keywords