Regulation of Surface Reactant Adsorption for Efficient Electroreduction of Phenol on Pt–Cu Bimetallic Catalyst

Cycloalkyl alcohols are important raw materials for the synthesis of biodegradable plastics, such as ε-caprolactone (derived from cyclohexanol) for polycaprolactone (PCL) and certain monomers for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The development of high-performance electrocatalysts for the efficient and selective production of cycloalkanols remains challenging. In this work, Pt-Cu bimetallic catalysts were prepared by using the polyol solvothermal reduction method. At a current density of 20 mA/cm^-2, after 8 h of electrolysis, the conversion rate of phenol reached 91.3% and the selectivity of cyclohexanol reached 80.1%, demonstrating the most advanced comprehensive performance currently available. Characterization and theoretical calculations indicate that Pt sites are responsible for providing sites for the reduction process of phenol, while Cu enhances the adsorption ability of the reactant phenol and the desorption ability of the product cyclohexanol while inhibiting the occurrence of the HER to minimize byproduct formation. This synthetic approach provides insights and solutions for obtaining key raw materials in the green synthesis of biodegradable plastics.