Publication date: 15th December 2025
In the transition towards Net-Zero, there is significant interest in phasing out fossil fuels as both the energy source and precursor for petrochemicals. Biomass is recognised as an ideal CO2 neutral, abundant and renewable resource substitute to fossil fuels. The rich proton content in most biomass-derived materials endows it to be an effective hydrogen carrier.1 The inherent chemical structure allows them to be easily catalysed to produce valuable commodity chemicals that can be used in applications such as biodegradable polymers and pharmaceuticals. Although historically biomass has been regarded as a waste stream, recent years have seen increasing attention in valorising it into useful products.
In this talk, I present biomass electrolysis, specifically glycerol (the waste by-product from the bio-diesel industry), as an alternative route to produce hydrogen and value-added chemicals, lactic acid. The process resembles water electrolysis, with H2 produced on the cathode via the hydrogen evolution reaction. On the anode, however, instead of oxidising water, a combined electrochemical & chemical process takes place that transforms glycerol into lactic acid. Her,e I present the fundamental knowledge on how a multi-component tandem catalyst system Pt/C-Al2O3 can tune the selectivity towards lactic acid, acquired through advanced material characterisations and DFT calculations.2,3 At the same time, details on catalyst requirements and recent advances for future strategic design of the processing system will be provided.
Looking beyond, an even more abundant and low-value waste stream than biomass is plastic. Finding a way to upcycle plastic derivatives has become imperative to help tackle this global challenge. Therefore, the last part of my talk will share our recent studies on PET (polyethylene terephthalate) derived ethylene glycol (EG) electrolysis to co-produce hydrogen and glycolic acid. Au-based nanoparticle electrocatalyst has been used to drive the reaction at Ampere-scale with > 85% glycolic acid selectivity, revealing its high potential in industrially relevant applications.
HL acknowledges the support from the Royal Society Research Grant (RG\R1\241164) and the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship (RF-2324-23-176).
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