Low-Voltage Paired Electrolysis via MOF-Derived Hierarchical Pt-Cu Electrocatalysts for Integrated Hydrogen Production and Chemical Upgrading

Abstract

Integrating value-added chemical upgrading with energy-efficient hydrogen production represents a promising strategy for sustainable electrochemical systems. Herein, we report MOF-derived Pt-incorporated Cu catalysts directly grown on Cu foam (Pt-Cu/CF) as self-supported catalyst-electrode composites for coupled furfural electrochemical hydrogenation (FEH) and formaldehyde oxidation reaction (FOR). The MOF-derived architecture generates a hierarchical porous structure with highly dispersed metallic active sites, while Pt incorporation optimizes reaction energetics by facilitating carbonyl hydrogenation for FEH and providing a kinetically balanced profile for FOR, collectively enhancing intrinsic activity and reaction selectivity.When integrated into an anion exchange membrane paired electrolyzer (Pt-Cu/CF || Pt-Cu/CF), the system achieves 10 mA cm -2 at an ultralow cell voltage of 0.197 V, representing a 1.60 V reduction compared to conventional water electrolysis.This work establishes a materials-design-driven strategy for constructing bifunctional electrocatalysts and demonstrates an energy-efficient device platform for integrated hydrogen production and value-added chemical upgrading.