Spillover‐Mediated H* Redistribution Promotes Electrocatalytic Acetonitrile Hydrogenation in PEM Reactors

Electrocatalytic acetonitrile hydrogenation (EAH) provides a sustainable route for ethylamine synthesis, yet suffers from low productivity, competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and high energy consumption due to suboptimal catalyst and reactor design. To overcome these challenges, we describe a palladium-copper hybrid catalyst that employs spillover-mediated active hydrogen (H*) redistribution mechanism. Hydrogen spillover from palladium with high H* coverage to copper with low H* coverage creates H* redistribution: reduced H* coverage of Pd mitigates HER while maintaining efficient EAH, and increased H* availability of Cu promotes EAH without activating stagnant HER. Integration of these catalysts into both cathode and anode of a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer enabled efficient ethylamine electrosynthesis and formic acid electrooxidation over 100 h, achieving exceptional ethylamine productivity (6160.0 ± 119.1 mmol g<sub>cat</sub> <sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>) and Faradaic efficiency (94.2 ± 1.6%) at record-low energy consumption (3.55 kWh kg<sub>ethylamine</sub> <sup>-1</sup>). This work marks a critical advancement toward sustainable ethylamine electrosynthesis.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2025-07-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202512654
Citations
7
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.54

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article

Spillover‐Mediated H* Redistribution Promotes Electrocatalytic Acetonitrile Hydrogenation in PEM Reactors

Zijie Cheng, Huibin Ge, Bingying Han, Riguang Zhang et al.
7 citations
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
2.54
article

Spillover‐Mediated H* Redistribution Promotes Electrocatalytic Acetonitrile Hydrogenation in PEM Reactors

Zijie Cheng, Huibin Ge, Bingying Han, Riguang Zhang, Lianbing Zhang, Jie Kong, Shan Huang, Baojun Wang, Jiayuan Li, Ye Liu
article en
7 citations

Abstract

Electrocatalytic acetonitrile hydrogenation (EAH) provides a sustainable route for ethylamine synthesis, yet suffers from low productivity, competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and high energy consumption due to suboptimal catalyst and reactor design. To overcome these challenges, we describe a palladium-copper hybrid catalyst that employs spillover-mediated active hydrogen (H*) redistribution mechanism. Hydrogen spillover from palladium with high H* coverage to copper with low H* coverage creates H* redistribution: reduced H* coverage of Pd mitigates HER while maintaining efficient EAH, and increased H* availability of Cu promotes EAH without activating stagnant HER. Integration of these catalysts into both cathode and anode of a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer enabled efficient ethylamine electrosynthesis and formic acid electrooxidation over 100 h, achieving exceptional ethylamine productivity (6160.0 ± 119.1 mmol g<sub>cat</sub> <sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>) and Faradaic efficiency (94.2 ± 1.6%) at record-low energy consumption (3.55 kWh kg<sub>ethylamine</sub> <sup>-1</sup>). This work marks a critical advancement toward sustainable ethylamine electrosynthesis.

Angewandte Chemie International EditionVol. 64(38)
Northwestern Polytechnical University (CN), Taiyuan University of Technology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
2.54
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