Glucose oxidation assisted hydrogen and gluconic/glucaric acid production using NiVP/Pi bifunctional electrocatalyst

Abstract

Hydrogen is an efficient green energy source due to its high energy density and environmental friendliness. Water electrolysis, which involves hydrogen generation at the cathode and O₂ production at the anode, is a promising approach for H₂ production. But, its sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limits the overall large-scale application of hydrogen. Thus, replacing the OER with anodic glucose oxidation, which occurs at a lower potential, makes it energy efficient and further produces higher value-added products such as gluconic acid, glucaric acid, and gluconolactone. Herein, we report nickel vanadium phosphide/phosphate–Vulcan carbon (NiVP/Pi–VC) as an effective bifunctional electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction coupled with glucose oxidation, which exhibits a low cell voltage of 1.3 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², which is 280 mV lower compared to water splitting. The catalyst offers a new prospect for the development of other valuable products along with hydrogen generation.