Bimetallic Pt―Cu catalysts for glycerol oxidation with oxygen in a base-free aqueous solution

A series of carbon supported bimetallic Pt―Cu catalysts were prepared and used for glycerol oxidation with oxygen in a base-free aqueous solution. It was found that bimetallic Pt―Cu/C was more active than monometallic Pt/C towards selective oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid. The selectivity of free glyceric acid reached 70.8% at an 86.2% conversion of glycerol over 5Pt―Cu/C. Highly dispersed bimetallic Pt―Cu nanoparticles with small particle size in dominant alloyed phase of PtCu3 were confirmed by XRD and TEM in the bimetallic Pt―Cu/C catalyst, which is proposed to contribute to the improved performance.

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► Selective oxidation of glycerol was performed on Pt―Cu/C in base-free conditions.
► All Cu modified Pt/C catalysts exhibited higher activity than the corresponding parent Pt/C.
► 3Pt–Cu/C (3 wt.%) exhibited higher activity than 5Pt/C (5 wt.%).
► Highly dispersed PtCu3 alloy was proposed to contribute to the improved performance.