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Ionic liquid-trimetallic electrocatalytic system for C-O bond cleavage in lignin model compounds and lignin under ambient conditions

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Abstract

Electrocatalytic depolymerization of lignin into value-added chemicals offers a promising technique to make biorefining sustainable. Herein, we report a robust trimetallic PdNiBi electrocatalyst for reductive C-O bond cleavage of different lignin model dimers and oxidized lignin under mild conditions. The reduction reaction proceeds with complete substrate conversion and excellent yields toward monomers of phenols (80%–99%) and acetophenones (75%–96%) in the presence of an ionic liquid electrolyte with operational stability. Systematic experimental investigations together with density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the outstanding performance of the catalyst results from the synergistic effect of the metal elements, which facilitates the easier formation of a key Cα radical intermediate and the facile desorption of the as-formed products at the electrode. The results open up new opportunities for lignin valorization through the green electrocatalytic approach.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22078322, 21890762, 22178344, and 21834006) and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (No. Y2021022). The authors sincerely appreciate Prof. S. J. Z. (IPE, CAS) for his careful academic guidance and great support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Guangyong Liu, Shijing Liang & Lilong Jiang

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Guangyong Liu, Yumiao Lu, JunFeng Lu, Yanlei Wang & Hongyan He

  3. Longzihu New Energy Laboratory, Zhengzhou Institute of Emerging Industrial Technology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

    Yanlei Wang & Hongyan He

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  1. Guangyong Liu
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  2. Yumiao Lu
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  3. JunFeng Lu
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  4. Yanlei Wang
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  5. Shijing Liang
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Correspondence to Shijing Liang or Hongyan He.

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Ionic liquid-trimetallic electrocatalytic system for C-O bond cleavage in lignin model compounds and lignin under ambient conditions

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Liu, G., Lu, Y., Lu, J. et al. Ionic liquid-trimetallic electrocatalytic system for C-O bond cleavage in lignin model compounds and lignin under ambient conditions. Nano Res. 17, 2420–2428 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6086-z

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