Recently, Prof. Wei Zhao research group from the Institute for Advanced Studies at Shenzhen University published a research paper titled “Electrocatalytic valorization of lignocellulose-derived aromatics at industrial-scale current densities” on the journal ofNature Communications(link:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43136-y). Prof. Wei Zhao is the solo corresponding author, and Dr. Tao Peng and Master student Wenbin Zhang are co-first authors. Institute for Advanced Study of Shenzhen University is the only affiliation.

Under the current background of carbon neutrality and sustainability, electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) of lignocellulosic bio-oil to fuels and value-added chemicals takes advantage of renewable electricity and useful biomass-derived feedstocks. However, to date, the current densities of these reactions have lain below 50 mA/cm², far away from the industrial-scale productivity level. This paper report flow-cell-based hydrogenation of bio-oil aromatics (furans and lignin monomers) to value-added chemicals at industrial-scale current densities of 300 ~500 mA/cm²with high faradaic efficiencies up to 64%, representing a record high productivity (or partial current density) to target products. In-situ infrared reflection−absorption spectroscopy results elaborate the ECH reaction mechanism. Technoeconomic analyses studies indicate the ECH of bio-oil aromatics is techno-economically feasible using our flow cell at industrial-scale current densities. This work offers a promising strategy to engineer flow-cell-based bio-oil refinery at industrial-level productivity.

In the fields of biomass electrocatalytic synthesis and energy electrochemistry, other research work from Wei Zhao's research group can be found in the following:

iScience,2023,26, 108003 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108003);

ACS Catalysis, 2023,13, 2313(https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.2c05654,ESI Highly cited papers);

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 455, 140799(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.140799).

Green Chemistry,2022,24,3655 – 3661 (https://doi.org/10.1039/D1GC04777A);

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 430, 132642(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.132642).

Green Chemistry,2022,24, 142 – 146 (https://doi.org/10.1039/D1GC03523A);

Journal of the American Chemical Society,2021,143,17226-17235 (https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c08348);

Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2021,42, 1831 (https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2067(21)63839-1);