Electrosynthesis of glyceric acid from glycerol oxidation on Au-CeO2/CNT catalyst

Transformation of glycerol into value-added chemicals via electro-oxidation using the green electricity is considered as a sustainable and promising process. Whereas, the synthesis of specific C3 products such as glyceric acid (GLA) from electro-oxidation of glycerol still suffers from poor catalytic performance. Here, we used a two-step deposition strategy to prepare Au-CeO2/CNT catalyst for highly efficient electrosynthesis of GLA from glycerol oxidation under alkaline conditions. Upon treating 0.5 mol/L glycerol at 1.12 V (vs. RHE) for 12 h in 1.0 mol/L KOH solution, the glycerol conversion and GLA selectivity over Au-CeO2/CNT achieve 99.7% and 50.0%, respectively. The glycerol conversion doubles when an optimal amount of CeO2 is introduced to the Au/CNT catalyst. Au-CeO2/CNT provides numerous active sites at ternary junctions of Au-CeO2-CNT, which effectively suppress the adsorption of GLA on the surface of Au nanoparticles and prevent the nanoparticles from serious agglomeration, thereby facilitate the glycerol-to-GLA conversion with considerable cyclability. This study provides valuable insight into the rational design of high-performance catalysts for alcohol electro-oxidation.