Single-Atom Catalysts for Alcohol Oxidation Reactions

Liquid fuel cells (LFCs) are promising green energy conversion devices that can operate with a series of liquid fuels, such as methanol, ethanol, glycerol, ethylene glycol, formic acid, and glucose. In addition, their bio-obtained analogs can also be utilized, such as bioethanol obtained from non-food sources or crude glycerol, which is an undesired byproduct during biodiesel production. These fuels require catalysts to galvanically convert the chemical energy confined in their molecules into electricity. Currently, the best materials for the electrocatalytic oxidation of liquid fuels are noble metals, especially platinum-group metals (PGMs). Consequently, the cost of LFCs is increased by the catalyst’s contribution. Thus, new solutions are required for the development of cost-effective catalysts. In this sense, single-atom catalysts (SACs) are promising materials for LFCs because they enable effective metal utilization owing to their atomic distribution, and their activity is improved because of the increased reactivity of active sites owing to the promotion of uncoordinated sites. In this chapter, SACs for alcohol oxidation reactions are revised, focusing on physiochemical methods to detect SACs and the reactivity of outstanding SACs based on PGMs and non-PGM materials. It is found that the reactivity of SACs based on non-PGMs can be boosted, displaying superior activity compared to benchmarked nanoparticulated catalysts.