pH Driven Pathways to Promote the Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Phenol and Other Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Abstract

The electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) of bio-mass derived compounds is an attractive alternative to traditional thermochemical hydrogenation (TCH) methods that are used in the U.S. chemical and petroleum industries to produce value-added fuels and chemicals. TCH uses high pressures and temperatures, along with an external source of hydrogen gas typically produced via methane reformation; these requirements make it an energy intensive process. ECH has the advantages of operating near ambient conditions and sourcing the participating hydrogen from the aqueous electrolyte solution, resulting in reduced energy costs and CO₂ emissions compared to TCH. The applied potential provides an additional parameter for controlling selectivity, which makes ECH more suitable to handle the wide chemical variability of biomass-derived feedstocks.