Investigation of electrocatalytic active sites in Cu2O and Cu-Ga electrocatalysts for the hydrogenation of furfural by means of in-situ X-Ra

Furfural is a pivotal renewable platform molecule obtained from the chemical breakdown of hemicellulose. While it has traditionally been valorized to value-added chemicals through catalytic hydrogenation in biorefineries, its direct electrocatalytic hydrogenation presents attractive advantages. While copper is the traditional electrocatalyst of choice to conduct furfural hydrogenation, we have discovered that using oxidized Cu (Cu2O) or alloying Cu with Ga leads to a significant improvement in performance for the reduction of furfural to 2-methylfuran in acidic media. The aim of this proposal is to use operando X-Ray absorption spectroscopy to gain insight into the chemical state of metals under operating conditions and unravel clues on the mechanism behind these excellent properties. In particular, we would ultimately like to understand if Ga directly participates into the electrocatalytic active site, or rather acts as a stabilizing agent for a partially oxidized copper active site.