Youngkook Kwon

On the basis of a comparison of the oxidation activity of a series of similar alcohols with varying pK(a) on gold electrodes in alkaline solution, we find that the first deprotonation is base catalyzed, and the second deprotonation is fast but gold catalyzed. The base catalysis follows a Hammett-type correlation with pK(a), and dominates overall reactivity for a series of similar alcohols. The high oxidation activity on gold compared to platinum for some of the alcohols is related to the high re

A carbon supported platinum electrode in a bismuth saturated solution at a carefully chosen potential is capable of oxidizing glycerol to dihydroxyacetone with 100% selectivity. In the absence of bismuth, the primary alcohol oxidation is dominant. Using a combination of online HPLC and in situ FTIR, it is shown that Bi blocks the pathway for primary oxidation but also provides a specific Pt–Bi surface site poised for secondary alcohol oxidation.

Abstract This paper addresses the oxidation mechanism of glycerol on Au and Pt electrodes under different pH conditions. Intermediates and/or reaction products were detected by using an online high‐performance liquid chromatography technique (for soluble products) and online electrochemical mass spectrometry (for CO 2 ). In alkaline media, the main product of glycerol oxidation on the Pt electrode is glyceric acid produced via glyceraldehyde. Glyceric acid is the primary oxidation product on the

The electrocatalytic conversion of furanic compounds, i.e. mainly furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, has recently emerged as a potentially scalable technology for both oxidation and hydrogenation processes because of its highly valuable products. However, its practical application in industry is currently limited by low catalytic activity and product selectivity. Thus, a better understanding of the catalytic reactions as well as a strategy for the catalyst design can bring solutions for a com

The combination of cyclic voltammetry and "online" chromatographic techniques for product detection is limited by the typically long analysis times in chromatographic columns. Therefore, traditionally, product analysis is performed offline after long bulk electrolysis experiments. To overcome the limitation of the inherently different time scales of voltammetry and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), we suggest here to adopt rapid online sample collection with a micrometer-sized sampl

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2RR) has received much attention for its ability to generate value-added chemicals from a molecule that would otherwise be a waste end-product. Numerous studies have emerged in the past decades, but the renewable and sustainable carbon-neutral CO2 reduction process is yet to be industrialized. Here, we review the progress and bottlenecks of the electrochemical CO2 reduction technologies over the past 15 years (2004–2018) to examine whether CO2RR process is to be

Abstract There are a number of recent reports on the use of oxidation/reduction cycling of Cu surfaces to improve their selectivity for ethylene formation in the aqueous CO 2 reduction reaction. Here, the oxidation/reduction process is examined in detail. It is found that the faradaic efficiencies for both ethylene and ethanol are enhanced after oxidation/reduction cycling in the presence of halide anions. Specifically, cycling of the electrode in the presence of chloride, bromide, or fluoride a

The electrochemical N2 reduction reaction has attracted interest as a potential alternative to the Haber–Bosch process, but a significantly low conversion efficiency and a significantly low ammonia production rate stimulate the need for alternatives. Here, we represent the electrochemical reduction of nitric oxide (NO) on a nanostructured Ag electrode in combination with a rationally designed electrolyte containing the EDTA–Fe2+ metal complex (EFeMC), which results in an ∼100% efficiency for NH3

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is studied on solid metal electrodes in acidic solution (0.5 M H2 SO4 ) by correlating voltammetry with on-line HPLC product analysis. Three soluble products from HMF hydrogenation are distinguished: 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran (DHMF), 2,5-dihydroxymethyltetrahydrofuran (DHMTHF), and 2,5-dimethyl-2,3-dihydrofuran (DMDHF). Based on the dominant reaction products, the metal catalysts are divided into three groups: (1) metals mainly formi

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran (DHMF) or other species, such as 2,5-dimethylfuran, on solid metal electrodes in neutral media is addressed, both in the absence and in the presence of glucose. The reaction is studied by combining voltammetry with on-line product analysis by using HPLC, which provides both qualitative and quantitative information about the reaction products as a function of electrode potential. Three groups of catalysts

This work presents that Cu with atomic-scale spacings ( d s ) efficiently catalyses the electrochemical co-reduction of CO 2 and NO 3 − to urea. Specifically, Cu with d s near 6 Å (6 Å-Cu) produces urea with a high yield rate and partial current density.

Metal oxides are a promising material for designing highly active and selective catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2RR). Here, we designed a Cu/ceria catalyst with high selectivity of methane production at single-atomic Cu active sites. Using this, we report favorable design concepts that push the product selectivity of methane formation by combining detailed structural analysis, density functional theory (DFT), in situ Raman spectroscopy, and electrochemical measur

The electrochemical conversion of nitric oxide (NO) to ammonia (NH3) provides a sustainable route to transform an air pollutant into a value-added chemical. However, the development of NO electroreduction remains hindered by the poor solubility in aqueous electrolytes, requiring the use of concentrated NO. Here, we report a dilute NO reduction using a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) to circumvent the mass transport issue. Through the incorporation of nanoscale zero-valent iron into carbon black on

This article reports the synthesis of bimetallic Cu/Rh single atoms and Cu₂Rh nanoparticles on N-doped graphene (Cu/Rh(SAs) + Cu₂Rh(NPs)/G_N) for efficient and durable hydrogen fuel production from acidic water.