journal article·2026-06

Reverse Hydrogen Spillover at M/Cu Interfaces Drives Efficient Bipolar Hydrogen Production From Furfural Electrooxidation

Hanshuai Xu, Yun Han, Sentao Wei, Lingxia Zheng, Hao Chen, Qilong Wu, Xinyi Shen, Mingming Zhan, Qingzhu Shu, Xiaowei Shi, Kun Jiang, Aijun Du, Huajun Zheng, Yi Jia

Small· Volume 22· Issue 33
Publisher page

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bipolar hydrogen production systems have attracted considerable interest for their low energy consumption and high efficiency. Understanding catalytic mechanisms and designing advanced electrocatalysts are central challenges in this field. In this work, we combine density functional theory (DFT) calculations with interface engineering to construct heterogeneous M/Cu interfaces (M = noble metals) for enhancing the furfural oxidation reaction in a bipolar hydrogen production system (FFOR‐H 2 ), which integrates both non‐faradaic and faradaic processes. Among the tested catalysts, Au/Cu heterojunction significantly promotes C─H bond cleavage via catalytic dehydrogenation in the non‐faradaic step. Notably, this study reports the first example of reverse hydrogen spillover using organic compounds as hydrogen sources. During the faradaic process, the Au/Cu interface also delivers exceptional performance in the FFOR‐H 2 system, achieving high activity (0.05 V vs RHE at 10 mA cm −2 ), 92.7% furfural conversion, and nearly 100% Faradaic efficiency for both product streams. This work offers valuable insights into harnessing hydrogen spillover and interfacial catalysis to advance bipolar hydrogen production, presenting an economical and sustainable route beyond conventional energy conversion systems.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion · Catalysis for Biomass Conversion · Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

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

School of Chemistry and Physics and Centre for Materials Science Gardens Point Campus Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Australia

Intelligent Polymer Research Institute and ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science Australian Institute for Innovative Materials University of Wollongong Wollongong New South Wales Australia

Moganshan Institute of ZJUT Deqing, Huzhou P. R. China

Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Thermochemical Conversion for Resources Recycling iChEM Department of Chemistry Fudan University Shanghai P. R. 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 P. R. China

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Separation Membrane Materials Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT) Hangzhou P. R. China

Funding

Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province · National Natural Science Foundation of China

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