The use of alcohols as replacements for fossil fuels is becoming ever more commonplace, as more and more research has gone into broadening the types of alcohol fuels.  A major limiting factor in the use of alcohol fuels is the requirement of expensive noble metal catalysts to oxidize the alcohols. In this work, we investigated electrochemically grown cuprous oxide crystals as a substitute catalyst for the alcohol oxidation. The morphology of cuprous oxide crystals was controlled by altering experimental parameters such as deposition time and growth potential. Oxidation experiments using the electrochemically deposited crystals were then done under alkaline conditions for several alcohols including methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, and ethylene glycol. Using cyclic voltammetry, we investigated into how alcohol concentration, crystal amount, crystal size, temperature, and scan rate would affect the alcohol oxidation. Finally, an investigation on the possible oxidation of alcohol derivatives, such as formaldehyde and formic acid, were also carried out.

Catalytic oxidation of alcohol using electrochemically grown cuprous oxide microcrystals

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.