Electrocatalytic Production of Ethylene Glycol from Ethylene on Both Electrodes

Electrochemical oxidation of ethylene-to-ethylene glycol offers a sustainable alternative to energy-intensive thermal processes. However, current strategies using chloride-mediated electrooxidation of ethylene suffer from low selectivity and efficiency. Here, we report a CrOx–IrO2 catalyst that achieves a faradaic efficiency (FE) of 98.5% with an unprecedent ∼100% selectivity for ethylene glycol on the anode. This catalyst preferentially promotes direct *Cl adsorption on Ir sites and enhances *ClO intermediate coverage during 2-chloroethanol formation, the key precursor to ethylene glycol, while suppressing the competing *OOH pathway. Coupled with cathodic H2O2-mediated ethylene oxidation in an electrolyzer, this system reaches ∼100% product selectivity at both the anode and cathode, with a total production rate of 2.69 mmol cm–2 h–1. Compared to conventional systems that utilize either chloride or H2O2 as individual mediators, this dual-mediator strategy achieves energy savings of approximately 52 and 76%, respectively, enabling a scalable and efficient platform for ethylene glycol production from ethylene.