Production of H₂ and Glucaric Acid Using Electrocatalyst Glucose Oxidation by the Ta NiFe LDH Electrode

Abstract

The slow anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) significantly limits electrocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production. We proposed the electrocatalyst for glucose oxidation by Ta-doping NiFe LDH nanosheets to simultaneously obtain glucaric acid (GRA) and hydrogen gas as a useful byproduct. Superior glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) activity is demonstrated by the optimized Ta-NiFe LDH, which has a low overpotential of 192 mV, allowing for a small Tafel slope of 70 mV dec^-1 and a current density of 50 mA cm^-2. The Ta NiFe LDH-oxidized glucose to GRA with a 72.94% yield and 64.3% Faradaic efficiency at 1.45 <i>V</i>_RHE. Herein, we report the Ta NiFe LDH/NF electrode for the GOR&hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which exhibits a cell voltage of 1.62 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm^-2, which is 250 mV lower compared to OER&HER (1.87 V). This study reveals that GOR is an energy-efficient and cost-effective method for producing H₂ and valorizing biomass.