Commercial-scale glycerol valorization using surface-modified copper cobalt oxide catalyst in high-capacity anion exchange membrane electrolyzer

Abstract

Interest in electrochemical glycerol oxidation reactions (GORs) continues to grow as a promising strategy for hydrogen production. By replacing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), GOR reduces energy consumption while generating hydrogen at the cathode and value-added formate at the anode, offering techno-economic advantages over conventional water electrolysis. However, its practical implementation is still hindered by reliance on precious metal catalysts and performance losses in scaled-up systems. Here, we synthesized a non-precious CuCo oxide (CCO) electrocatalyst at a tens-of-grams scale through co-precipitation and simple surface treatment. When applied to an anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer, the modified CuCo oxide achieved 110 mA cm-2 at 1.31 Vcell using a 7 cm2 non-precious GOR anode with 96% formate selectivity. The system was further scaled to a 79 cm2 anode, delivering 3.2 A at 1.31 Vcell. This study demonstrates a practical and economically favorable pathway for scalable hydrogen production via glycerol valorization in AEM electrolyzers.