Biphasic Transition Metal Nitride Electrode Promotes Nucleophile Oxidation Reaction for Practicable Hybrid Water Electrocatalysis

Glycerol electrooxidation (GOR), as a typical nucleophile oxidation reaction, is deemed as a promising alternative anodic route to assist cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction. However, the investigations of high-performance catalysts and industrial-scale application of GOR remain a grand challenge. Herein, biphasic Ni 3 N/Co 3 N heterostructure nanowires (denoted as Ni 3 N/Co 3 N-NWs) are proposed as an efficient bifunctional catalyst, which realizes a high Faradaic efficiency of 94.6% toward formate production. Importantly, the flow electrolyzer achieves an industry-level current density of 1 A cm −2 at 2.01 V with impressive stability for steady running over 200 h, realizing lower electricity expense of 4.82 kWh m −3 H2 and energy saving efficiency of 9.7%, as well as outstanding co-production rates of 11 and 21.4 mmol cm −2 h −1 toward formate and H 2 , respectively. Theoretical calculations reveal that the efficient electron transfer on Ni 3 N/Co 3 N heterointerfaces simultaneously optimizes nucleophile reaction tendency and glycerol dehydrogenation kinetics, thus contributing to excellent GOR performance.