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

Electrocatalytic oxidative dehydrogenation (EOD) of aldehydes enables ultra-low voltage, bipolar H₂ production with co-generation of carboxylic acid. Herein, we reported a simple galvanic replacement method to prepare CuM (M = Pt, Pd, Au, and Ag) bimetallic catalysts to improve the EOD of furfural to reach industrially relevant current densities. The redox potential difference between Cu/Cu²⁺ and a noble metal M/M^y+ can incorporate the noble metal on the Cu surface and enlarge its surface area. Particularly, dispersing Pt in Cu (CuPt) achieved a record-high current density of 498 mA cm^-2 for bipolar H₂ production at a low cell voltage of 0.6 V and a Faradaic efficiency of >80% to H₂. Future research is needed to deeply understand the synergistic effects of Cu-M toward EOD of furfural, and improve the Cu-M catalyst stability, thus offering great opportunities for future distributed manufacturing of green hydrogen and carbon chemicals with practical rates and low-carbon footprints.