近日，清华大学段昊泓团队报道了零间隙电解槽中CO₂和生物质衍生碳水化合物的电子高效甲酸酯电合成。这一研究成果发表在2026年3月17日出版的《德国应用化学》杂志上。

配对电解技术通过利用双极性电极的电子转移过程，正被积极开发用于联产高附加值化学品。在电化学CO₂还原制备甲酸盐的过程中，若与析氧反应耦合，膜电极组件（MEA）电解槽中甲酸盐会严重交叉渗透并在阳极被氧化为CO₂。

研究组报道了一种汇聚电解新策略，通过将CO₂还原与生物质衍生碳水化合物（如葡萄糖）氧化相耦合，在双极性电极上协同生产甲酸盐，实现了甲酸盐电子效率的最大化（0.88甲酸盐/e^-），并有效抑制了交叉甲酸盐在阳极的氧化反应。该汇聚电解体系在甲酸盐生产中展现出低能耗特性（100 mA cm^-2电流密度下为76.5 Wh mol^-1），显著低于传统CO₂还原工艺（180-350 Wh mol^-1）。进一步地，研究组将该策略拓展至乙酸盐生产，通过耦合电化学CO还原与废弃聚乳酸塑料氧化实现。该研究为低能耗化学品生产的配对电解系统理性设计提供了理论框架。

附：英文原文

Title: Electron-Efficient Formate Electrosynthesis from CO2 and Biomass-Derived Carbohydrates in a Zero-Gap Electrolyzer

Author: Yue Ren, Ming Xu, Kang Zou, Wei Kong, Zhenhua Li, Xianggui Kong, Lirong Zheng, Zishan Han, Chunyu Zhang, Hua Zhou, Mingfei Shao, Haohong Duan

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-17

Abstract: Paired electrolysis is being actively developed for co-producing valuable chemicals by leveraging electron transfer at bipolar electrodes. In electrochemical CO2 reduction to formate, if the reaction is coupled with oxygen evolution reaction, formate experiences severe crossover and oxidation to CO2 over anode in membrane electrode assembly (MEA) electrolyzer. We reported a convergent electrolysis that produces formate at bipolar electrodes by coupling CO2 reduction with biomass-derived carbohydrate (for example, glucose) oxidation, maximizing the electron efficiency toward formate (0.88 formate per e) and suppressing oxidation of crossed formate at anode. This convergent electrolysis shows low electricity consumption for formate production (76.5 Wh mol1 at 100 mA cm2), lower than that of conventional CO2 reduction (180350 Wh mol1). Furthermore, we extended the convergent electrolysis to acetate production by coupling electrochemical CO reduction with waste polylactic acid plastic oxidation. This work offers a framework for the rational design of paired electrolysis for low electricity consumption of chemical production.

DOI: 10.1002/anie.3951875

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.3951875