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Replacing the oxygen evolution reaction with electrocatalytic bioalcohol oxidation offers an attractive route toward energy-saving hydrogen production and biomass upgrading. Notably, the commercialization of this process relies on the development of a cost-effective continuous-flow reactor. Electrochemical microreactors emerge as a promising contender for continuous-flow electrocatalytic processes due to their efficient mass transfer and high modularity. However, the use of a two-dimensional planar electrode with low specific surface areas and electrocatalytic activity constrains the application of microreactors in electrocatalytic reactions. In this work, we develop a continuous-flow electrochemical microreactor incorporating three-dimensional micro-structured electrodes. The three-dimensional micro-structure engineering of the electrode surface endows it with abundant active sites and high electrocatalytic activity, enabling high conversion efficiency and low energy consumption for biomass-derived isobutyl alcohol electrocatalytic oxidation coupled with hydrogen evolution reaction. This work provides valuable insights for the design of electrochemical reactors in distributed application scenarios.
Du et al. (Thu,) studied this question.