Journal article
Acetaldehyde as an Intermediate in the Electroreduction of Carbon Monoxide to Ethanol on Oxide-Derived Copper
Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark1
Surface Physics and Catalysis, Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark2
Carlsberg Research Center3
Stanford University4
Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark5
Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark6
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory7
Massachusetts Institute of Technology8
Oxide-derived copper (OD-Cu) electrodes exhibit unprecedented CO reduction performance towards liquid fuels, producing ethanol and acetate with >50 % Faradaic efficiency at −0.3 V (vs. RHE). By using static headspace-gas chromatography for liquid phase analysis, we identify acetaldehyde as a minor product and key intermediate in the electroreduction of CO to ethanol on OD-Cu electrodes.
Acetaldehyde is produced with a Faradaic efficiency of ≈5 % at −0.33 V (vs. RHE). We show that acetaldehyde forms at low steady-state concentrations, and that free acetaldehyde is difficult to detect in alkaline solutions using NMR spectroscopy, requiring alternative methods for detection and quantification.
Our results represent an important step towards understanding the CO reduction mechanism on OD-Cu electrodes.
| Language: | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
| Year: | 2016 |
| Pages: | 1450-1454 |
| ISSN: | 15213773 and 14337851 |
| Types: | Journal article |
| DOI: | 10.1002/anie.201508851 |
| ORCIDs: | 0000-0002-6482-8937 , Meier, Sebastian , 0000-0001-8350-253X , 0000-0003-2157-492X , Chorkendorff, Ib and Roy, Claudie |
