Sadakiyo Masaaki, Hata Shinichi, Cui Xuedong, Yamauchi Miho
International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), Kyushu University, 744 Moto-oka, Nishi-ku Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan.
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, 744 Moto-oka, Nishi-ku Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Dec 12;7(1):17032. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-17036-3.
A liquid flow-type electrolyser that continuously produces an alcohol from a carboxylic acid was constructed by employing a polymer electrolyte, named a polymer electrolyte alcohol electrosynthesis cell (PEAEC). Glycolic acid (GC, an alcoholic compound) is generated on anatase TiO catalysts via four-electron reduction of oxalic acid (OX, a divalent carboxylic acid), accompanied with water oxidation, which achieves continuous electric power storage in easily stored GC. Porous anatase TiO directly grown on Ti mesh (TiO/Ti-M) or Ti felt (TiO/Ti-F) was newly fabricated as a cathode having favourable substrate diffusivity. A membrane-electrode assembly composed of the TiO/Ti-M, Nafion 117, and an IrO supported on a gas-diffusion carbon electrode (IrO/C) was applied to the PEAEC. We achieved a maximum energy conversion efficiency of 49.6% and a continuous 99.8% conversion of 1 M OX, which is an almost saturated aqueous solution at room temperature.
通过使用一种名为聚合物电解质醇电合成电池（PEAEC）的聚合物电解质，构建了一种能从羧酸中连续生产醇的液流型电解槽。乙醇酸（GC，一种醇类化合物）通过草酸（OX，一种二价羧酸）的四电子还原在锐钛矿型TiO催化剂上生成，同时伴有水氧化反应，这实现了将电能连续存储在易于储存的GC中。新制备了直接生长在钛网（TiO/Ti-M）或钛毡（TiO/Ti-F）上的多孔锐钛矿型TiO作为具有良好底物扩散性的阴极。将由TiO/Ti-M、Nafion 117和负载在气体扩散碳电极上的IrO（IrO/C）组成的膜电极组件应用于PEAEC。我们实现了49.6%的最大能量转换效率以及对1 M OX（在室温下几乎是饱和水溶液）的99.8%的连续转化率。
