Multimetallic catalysts for glycerol electrochemical oxidation to value-added products
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GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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Reviews advancements in multimetallic catalysts for glycerol electrochemical oxidation to various products.
Discusses catalyst design strategies aimed at to enhance performance.
Presents challenges and future opportunities in the field of multimetallic catalysts for glycerol electrooxidation.
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ABSTRACT
Glycerol is a major byproduct of biodiesel production and has become a biomass-derived platform chemical. The glycerol electrooxidation reaction (GEOR) offers a promising route for valorizing this abundant byproduct under mild conditions, simultaneously mitigating biomass resources and utilizing renewable electricity. However, while GEOR aligns with sustainable and low-carbon development, it faces significant challenges, including sluggish reaction kinetics and complex reaction pathways, which result in low activity and poor selectivity for the desired product. Multimetallic electrocatalysts have emerged as highly efficient materials for glycerol electrooxidation, attracting significant research attention. In this review, we provide an overview of multimetallic electrocatalysts for GEOR. Specifically, we first introduce the reaction networks of GEOR, alongside the intrinsic properties of metallic active sites that govern these processes. We then highlight advanced catalyst design strategies tailored to enhance GEOR performance for the production of specific C1-C3 value-added products. Based on structural-activity correlation, the practical significance of designing site-specific active centers to target distinct products is emphasized. Finally, we outline outstanding challenges and future research priorities that must be addressed to advance the field of GEOR, spanning innovations in catalyst design, advances in reaction engineering, and deeper fundamental mechanistic understanding.-
Keywords:
- glycerol /
- electrooxidation /
- multimetallic electrocatalyst /
- conversion /
- catalysis
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REFERENCES
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DOI:10.1039/D0TA01063D -
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Wang S., Li H., Ma Z., et al. (2026). Multimetallic catalysts for glycerol electrochemical oxidation to value-added products. The Innovation Materials 4:100219. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2026.100219
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Wang S., Li H., Ma Z., et al. (2026). Multimetallic catalysts for glycerol electrochemical oxidation to value-added products. The Innovation Materials 4:100219. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2026.100219
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Figure 1.
Various value-added products from GEOR depending on reaction conditions and catalyst properties.
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Figure 2.
Multimetallic electrocatalysts for GEOR.
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Figure 3.
Reaction pathways of GEOR.
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Figure 4.
The effect of reaction conditions on GEOR
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Figure 5.
Direct and indirect GEOR processes
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Figure 6.
The intrinsic property of various metallic sites for glycerol electrooxidation
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Figure 7.
Non-noble metal-based electrocatalysts
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Figure 8.
Strategies for enhancing C3 product selectivity
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Figure 9.
Strategies to enhance GEOR performance for producing C2 products
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Figure 10.
Self-supported electrodes for GEOR performance to produce C1 products
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Figure 11.
Strategies to enhance GEOR performance for producing C1 products
