N-CoFeP/NF electrocatalyst for coupling hydrogen production and oxidation reaction of various alcohols

Replacing the oxygen evolution reaction with the alcohols oxidation reaction (AOR) in electrolytic water is not only expected to reduce the overall energy consumption, but also realize the green synthesis of high value-added chemicals. However, designing high-activity electrocatalysts toward AOR yet faces a daunting challenge due to the indefinite conversion mechanism of different alcohols. Herein, a self-supported N-CoFeP/NF electrocatalyst on a nickel foam is synthesized via hydrothermal method, followed by low temperature nitridation and phosphating. The N-CoFeP/NF exhibits a fine nanorod nanostructure and high crystallinity. The AOR using N-CoFeP/NF catalysts requires a significantly lower potential (1.38–1.42 V vs. RHE) at 100 mA cm−2, reducing the energy input and the improvement of the overall efficiency. Moreover, alcohols with secondary hydroxyl groups located in the middle of the carbon chain underwent CC bond breakage during oxidation, yielding primarily formic acid (FE = 74 %) and acetic acid (FE = 50 %), which exhibits more attractive performance than alcohols with primary hydroxyl groups located at the end group did not undergo chemical bond breakage at a high current density of 400 mA cm−2. This study provides a novel and effective method to design TMPs and the selection of alcohols for anodic reaction, which can be used as a versatile strategy to improve the performance of anodic AOR coupled hydrogen evolution.