Volume 21, Issue 24 2501665
Research Article

Efficient Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Toluene by Relay Catalysis Over a Ru Single Atom/Nanoparticle Dual-Site Catalyst

Lingxia Zheng

Lingxia Zheng

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

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Lubo Zhang

Lubo Zhang

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

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Jiawei Bai

Jiawei Bai

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

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Yifeng Zhang

Yifeng Zhang

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

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Sentao Wei

Sentao Wei

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

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Chenlong Zhang

Chenlong Zhang

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

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Guojing Zhang

Guojing Zhang

Zhejiang Carbon Neutral Innovation Institute & Zhejiang International Cooperation Base for Science and Technology on Carbon Emission Reduction and Monitoring, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

Moganshan Institute ZJUT, Deqing, 313200 China

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Yongbing Ma

Corresponding Author

Yongbing Ma

Zhejiang Carbon Neutral Innovation Institute & Zhejiang International Cooperation Base for Science and Technology on Carbon Emission Reduction and Monitoring, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

Moganshan Institute ZJUT, Deqing, 313200 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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Xin Wang

Xin Wang

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

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Yi Jia

Corresponding Author

Yi Jia

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Key Laboratory of Organic Electrochemical Synthesis, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

Zhejiang Carbon Neutral Innovation Institute & Zhejiang International Cooperation Base for Science and Technology on Carbon Emission Reduction and Monitoring, Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), Hangzhou, 310014 China

Moganshan Institute ZJUT, Deqing, 313200 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 08 May 2025

Abstract

The methylcyclohexane-toluene-hydrogen (MTH) cycle is one of the most promising liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) systems. Despite the good performance of carbon-supported Pt nanoparticles, the drawbacks of noble metals, such as high cost and limited availability, hinder the industrial applications of these catalyst technologies. Herein, a ruthenium single-atom/nanoparticle (Ru SA/NP) dual-site electrocatalyst is developed with low metal loadings and notable electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) efficiency of toluene (TL) to methylcyclohexane (MCH) in an electrochemical microreactor. The results reveal that within a wide potential window (∆V = 500 mV), the optimal catalyst Ru4-CN exhibits ≈100% Faraday efficiency (FE), high MCH selectivity, and significant inhibition of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). At a cell voltage of 2.0 V, the yield of MCH reaches 657.12 µmol h−1 mgRu−1, which is ≈28 times higher than that of commercial Ru/C catalyst. Experimental and theoretical analyses indicate that TL preferentially adsorbs on Ru NP, while hydrogen atoms adsorb on Ru-SA to form H*, which is then delivered to Ru-NP to hydrogenate TL. This work brings forth a special design of Ru SA/NP dual-sites on the electrochemical hydrogenation of organic substrates and sheds light on the structure-activity relationships for future studies.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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