Abstract:
Using renewable energy for water electrolysis to produce "green hydrogen" holds promise for low-cost and zero-emission energy solutions. However, aligning Taiwan's current energy demand with renewable energy development presents numerous challenges. The primary bottleneck in water electrolysis lies in the oxygen evolution reaction, despite hydrogen demand often exceeding that of pure oxygen. We propose replacing the oxygen evolution reaction with a sustainable and high-value anodic reaction to address this fundamental contradiction: ethylene glycol oxidation. This alternative reaction offers lower potential and produces valuable products like glycolic and glyoxylic acid, serving the medical, cosmetic, chemical, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industries. In this context, this presentation briefly summarizes various electrocatalysts for value-added reactions, including iodide oxidation, poly-alcohol oxidation, and CO2 reduction reactions, with a focus on the single-atom catalysts (SACs) recently developed by our group.