Selective Electro-Oxidation of Glycerol to Dihydroxyacetone by PtAg Skeletons

Developing high-performance electrocatalysts for the selective conversion of glycerol into value-added chemicals is of great significance. Herein, three-dimensional nanoporous PtAg skeletons were studied as catalysts for the electro-oxidation of glycerol. The structural features of the PtAg skeletons were revealed by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy. The electrochemical activity of the catalysts was examined by cyclic voltammetry, linear sweeping voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. The resulting PtAg skeletons exhibit a peak current density of 7.57 mA cm-2, which is 15.4-fold higher than that of Pt/C, making the PtAg skeletons one of the best electrocatalysts for glycerol oxidation. High-performance liquid chromatography results show that the PtAg skeletons yield a remarkable dihydroxyacetone selectivity of 82.6%, which has so far been the second largest value reported in the literature. The superior activity and selectivity of the PtAg skeletons are ascribed to the large surface area and abundant Pt(111) facets. Additionally, the effects of glycerol and KOH concentrations and reaction time on product selectivity were investigated.