(198d) Cogeneration of Electricity and Valuable Chemicals: Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Glycerol in Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Cogeneration of Electricity and Valuable
Chemicals: Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Glycerol in
Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Zhiyong Zhang, Le Xin,
Zhichao Wang, Wenzhen Li

Electrocatalytic
oxidation of glycerol for cogeneration electricity and valuable chemicals was
investigated in anion-exchange membrane - direct glycerol fuel cells
(AEM-DGFCs) with Pt and Au anodes. With the anode Pt loading
of 1.0 mg_Pt cm^-2, the peak
power densities of AEM-DGFCs fed with high-purity and crude glycerol can reach
124.5 and 102.8 mW cm^-2 at 80 °C,
respectively. On Au anode catalyst, the peak power densities of AEM-DGFCs can
also reach 57.9 and 30.7 mW cm^-2 under the
same conditions. In the meantime, the AEM-DGFC can serve as a catalytic reactor
for selective oxidation of glycerol to high-value chemicals (glycerate, tartronate, and mesoxalate) with excellent stability and reusability. The
anode overpotentials has
been found to be able to regulate the product distributions on both Pt and Au catalysts. This work also found that while Pt favors the generation of glycerate
and tartronate, Au offers a unique opportunity for
the formation of fully-oxidized C₃ product, mesoxalate.