Publication date: 26th March 2026
Hydrogen is a key energy carrier for a sustainable future, as it can be used directly as a fuel and as a precursor in the chemical industry for the production of fuels, solvents, monomers, and other value-added chemicals.
Electrochemical methods enable water splitting, leading to the simultaneous generation of H₂ and O₂. However, the high energy demand of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains a major challenge for the cost-effective production of hydrogen via water electrolysis.
Replacing OER with the electrooxidation of biomass-derived molecules offers a promising strategy to reduce cell voltage and improve process profitability, as it enables the simultaneous production of high-value-added products of industrial interest. In this work, hydrogen production is coupled with the electrooxidation of furans, primary amines, and lignin-derived compounds such as vanillin. These reactions are enabled by nickel-based electrodes, which act as efficient electrocatalysts in alkaline media, where NiOOH species promote selective oxidation at lower potentials.
Beyond electrooxidation, the electroreduction of furans, nitriles, and ketones is also emerging as a promising strategy for the production of value-added compounds without the need for molecular hydrogen.
Overall, these approaches reduce energy consumption while enabling the co-production of value-added chemicals, paving the way for more sustainable and economically competitive hydrogen production systems.
Authors acknowledge project PLEC2023-010376 financed by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033.
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