A study of the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect on glycerol oxidation with nickel nanoparticles Marta Sendra Garcia, Laia Francàs Department of Chemistry, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona Climate change is one of the major challenges of the 21 st century. Consequently, it is necessary to shift towards alternative carbon-free, renewable energy sources. In this line, the use of green hydrogen as an energy vector has gained importance in recent years. However, the process of water electrolysis is highly energetically demanding due to the slow water oxidation process. [1] The electro-oxidation of molecules with alcohol groups is gaining interest as they occur at lower potentials than the oxygen evolution reaction, making the overall green production of hydrogen more efficient. Among these molecules, glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel synthesis, presents the advantage of simultaneously generating high-value products such as tartronic acid or dihydroxylacetone. [2] Nevertheless, achieving high selectivity in the glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) remains a key challenge. Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect has been reported to improve water oxidation by controlling the spin orientation of radical reaction intermediates, improving both the selectivity and kinetics. [3] This study aims to investigate the application of the CISS effect on GOR, which has not been previously reported in the literature. In this work, novel nickel-based nanomaterials for GOR have been investigated as an alternative to traditionally used noble metals. [2] The CISS effect could have an impact on the kinetics and selectivity of GOR, as radical intermediates have been reported when using Ni 3+ /Ni 2+ catalysts. [3][4] The chiral molecule L-cysteine has been used to functionalise both the surface of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and nickel nanoparticles. These new materials have been characterised using various techniques (TEM, STEM, FT-IR, XPS, ICP-OES). A mechanistic study using operando UV-Vis spectroelectrochemistry confirmed that Ni 3+ /Ni 2+ is the catalytic species. Finally, the functionalised materials were evaluated as electrocatalysts for GOR. References 1. M. Simões et al ., ChemSusChem. 5 (11), 2106–2124 ( 2012 ).
2. T. Li et al ., ChemSusChem. 14 (6), 1472–1495 ( 2021 ). 3. B. Bloom et al ., Chem Rev. 124 (4), 1950–1991 ( 2024 ). 4. M. Goetz et al ., Nature Communications. 13 (1), 1–10 ( 2022 ).
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