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Englezos C, Raman A, Jonker D, Ramos-Delgado NA, Altomare M, Gardeniers H, Susarrey A. Alanine Formation in a Zero-Gap Flow Cell and the Role of TiO 2/Ti Electrocatalysts. Chempluschem 2024; 89:e202300763. [PMID: 38358342 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202300763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The electrochemical synthesis of α ${\alpha }$ -amino acids at room temperature and pressure is a sustainable alternative to conventional methods like microbial fermentation and Strecker synthesis. A custom-built zero-gap flow electrolyzer was used to study the electrosynthesis of alanine via the electrocatalytic reductive amination (ERA) of the corresponding biomass-derivable α ${\alpha }$ -keto acid precursor - pyruvic acid (PA), and hydroxylamine (NH2OH) at very low pH. Non-toxic, abundant, and easy to prepare TiO2/Ti electrocatalysts were utilized as the cathode. Three TiO2/Ti felt electrodes with different oxide thicknesses were prepared and their characterization results were correlated with their respective electrochemical performance in terms of Faradaic efficiency η ${\eta }$ , and partial current densityj ‾ ${\left|\overline{j}\right|}$ . Cyclic voltammetry indicated a different electrocatalytic reduction process on hydrothermally treated electrodes, compared to thermally oxidized ones. Hydrothermally treated electrodes were also found to have the thickest porous anatase layer and achieved 50-75 % alanine conversion efficiencies. Optimization showed that the cell potential, reactant flow rate and the PA: NH2OH ratio were crucial parameters in determining the conversion efficiency. η ${\eta }$ andj ‾ ${\left|\overline{j}\right|}$ were found to significantly decrease when an excess of is used and, an optimal alanine η ${\eta }$ of 75 % was achieved at 2.0 V applied cell potential and 10 mL/h reactant flow rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christos Englezos
- Mesoscale Chemical Systems Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Akash Raman
- Mesoscale Chemical Systems Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Dirk Jonker
- Mesoscale Chemical Systems Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Norma Alicia Ramos-Delgado
- Mesoscale Chemical Systems Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
- National Council of Science and Technology/National Technological Institute of Mexico - Campus Nuevo León, Center for Research and Technological Innovation, Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico
| | - Marco Altomare
- Photo-Catalytic Synthesis (PCS) Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Han Gardeniers
- Mesoscale Chemical Systems Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Arturo Susarrey
- Mesoscale Chemical Systems Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
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Zhao F, Yan F, Qian Y, Xu Y, Ma C. Roughened TiO2 film electrodes for electrocatalytic reduction of oxalic acid to glyoxylic acid. J Electroanal Chem (Lausanne) 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2013.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Wang F, Yan X, Xu M, Li S, Fang W. Electrochemical performance and electroreduction of maleic acid on Ce-doped nano-TiO2 film electrode. Electrochim Acta 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2013.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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