Quasi-single-crystalline/amorphous high-entropy layered hydroxide for robust glycerol valorization to formate

Abstract

The electrochemical glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) offers a promising alternative to the anodic oxygen evolution reaction in water electrolysis, enabling simultaneous energy-saving hydrogen production and sustainable synthesis of value-added formate. Current advances reveal that high-valence transition metal species critically enhance C-C cleavage during glycerol electro-oxidation, with targeted enrichment of these active sites-via local structure design or in-situ reconstructionproving highly effective. Herein, we engineer a high-entropy FeCrCoNiCu layered hydroxide (HE-LH) catalyst featuring a hybrid quasi-single-crystalline (QSC)/amorphous nanostructure. This design synergistically integrates locally engineered and in-situ enriched high-valence active sites for efficient glycerol-to-formate conversion. The high-entropy composition induces a distinctive catalytic ensemble effect, elevating intrinsic GOR activity, while the QSC/amorphous heterostructure maximizes the density of electrochemically (re)active sites. Leveraging this dual optimization, HE-LH achieves an exceptional formate Faradaic efficiency of 92.9% and maintains >83% efficiency over five consecutive cycles. This work pioneers a co-design strategy for electrocatalysts by concurrently optimizing active site density and intrinsic activity, establishing high-entropy layered hydroxides as durable platforms for electrochemical biomass upgrading.

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Jul 2025
Accepted
20 Aug 2025
First published
21 Aug 2025

Green Chem., 2025, Accepted Manuscript

Quasi-single-crystalline/amorphous high-entropy layered hydroxide for robust glycerol valorization to formate

W. Zheng, X. Pang, C. Dong, L. Sun, J. Guo, P. Hao, F. Lei, X. Sun and J. Xie, Green Chem., 2025, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D5GC03670D

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