Cogeneration of Electricity and Valuable Chemicals: Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Glycerol in Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Cogeneration of Electricity and Valuable Chemicals: Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Glycerol in Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Zhiyong Zhang, Le Xin, Zhichao Wang, Wenzhen Li

Electrocatalytic oxidation of glycerol for cogeneration electricity and valuable chemicals was investigated in anion-exchange membrane - direct glycerol fuel cells (AEM-DGFCs) with Pt and Au anodes. With the anode Pt loading of 1.0 mg_Pt cm^-2, the peak power densities of AEM-DGFCs fed with high-purity and crude glycerol can reach 124.5 and 102.8 mW cm^-2 at 80 °C, respectively. On Au anode catalyst, the peak power densities of AEM-DGFCs can also reach 57.9 and 30.7 mW cm^-2 under the same conditions. In the meantime, the AEM-DGFC can serve as a catalytic reactor for selective oxidation of glycerol to high-value chemicals (glycerate, tartronate, and mesoxalate) with excellent stability and reusability. The anode overpotentials has been found to be able to regulate the product distributions on both Pt and Au catalysts. This work also found that while Pt favors the generation of glycerate and tartronate, Au offers a unique opportunity for the formation of fully-oxidized C₃ product, mesoxalate.