Remarkably Efficient Carbon-Supported Nanostructured Platinum-Bismuth Catalysts for the Selective Electrooxidation of Glucose and Methyl-Glucoside

Pt/C and Pt 9 Bi 1 /C catalysts are synthesized by wet chemistry, characterized by physicochemical and electrochemical methods, and evaluated towards glucose and methyl-glucoside electrooxidation in alkaline medium. Pt 9 Bi 1 /C leads to onset potentials 150 to 350 mV lower than those recorded on Pt/C for glucose and methyl-glucoside oxidation, respectively. From in situ infrared spectroscopy, main reaction products of glucose and methyl-glucoside oxidation are gluconate and methyl-glucuronate, respectively. Chronoamperometry is performed for 6 h in a 25-cm 2 electrolysis cell fitted with a Pt 9 Bi 1 /C anode to oxidize 18.0 g L −1 glucose and 19.4 g L -1 methyl-glucoside at cell voltages of 0.30 V and 0.50 V, respectively, and a Pt/C cathode to produce hydrogen. Analyses of the reaction products by high-performance liquid chromatography, by 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance, and by mass spectroscopy indicate that gluconate and methyl-glucuronate are formed with 100% faradaic efficiency and 100% selectivity at 40% glucose and 37% methyl-glucoside conversions, respectively. Graphical Abstract Pt 9 Bi 1 / electrocatalyst is the most outstanding one for the electrooxidation of glucose and methyl-glucoside in terms of activity, selectivity, and faradaic yield towards high value-added gluconate and methyl-glucuronate compounds, respectively.