Simultaneous electrochemical synthesis of high-value-added chemicals and hydrogen is a promising technology for efficient carbon utilization and renewable energy storage. However, the lack of rational guidance for designing efficient catalysts for electrosynthesis significantly hinders its development. A new technology of simultaneous generation of hydrogen and upgrading of ethanol by using catalysts based on PtAu nanoparticles (NPs) was reported. At a current density of 10 mA·cm⁻², the cell using PtAu nanoparticles had a low onset potential of 0.67 V, much lower than those of PtIr NPs (0.85 V) and commercial platinum on carbon catalyst (Pt/C) (0.92 V). PtAu NPs also possessed higher Faraday efficiencies of 79% for ethyl acetate production and 95% for hydrogen evolution than PtIr NPs and Pt/C. In addition, the cell based on PtAu NPs exhibited no obvious degradation of performance after a current-time stability test for 1000 s. Further study revealed that the introduction of highly electronegative Au into Pt-based nanomaterials could facilitate the activation of ethanol. This work can benefit the rational design of catalysts with enhanced selectivity of electrosynthesis.

Graphical abstract

中文翻译：

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用于同时产生氢气和乙醇升级的高负电性 PtAu 合金

高附加值化学品和氢气的同时电化学合成是高效碳利用和可再生能源存储的一项有前途的技术。然而，缺乏设计高效电合成催化剂的合理指导严重阻碍了其发展。报道了一种利用 PtAu 纳米颗粒 (NPs) 催化剂同时制氢和升级乙醇的新技术。电流密度10mA·cm ^-2时，使用 PtAu 纳米粒子的电池具有 0.67 V 的低起始电位，远低于 PtIr 纳米粒子 (0.85 V) 和商业铂碳催化剂 (Pt/C) (0.92 V)。与 PtIr NP 和 Pt/C 相比，PtAu NP 的乙酸乙酯生产法拉第效率高达 79%，析氢效率高达 95%。此外，基于PtAu NPs的电池在1000秒的电流-时间稳定性测试后没有表现出明显的性能下降。进一步的研究表明，将高负电性的Au引入到Pt基纳米材料中可以促进乙醇的活化。这项工作有利于催化剂的合理设计，提高电合成的选择性。

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