Fig. 1: Reaction pathway and kinetics in the water-oxidation-assisted selective electro-oxidation reaction following a surface bimolecular reaction (Langmuir-Hinshelwood) mechanism.

a Experimental and simulated reaction rates of organic electro-oxidation following the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) mechanism, using furfuryl alcohol (black) and furfural (red) as the example. Round points depict the experimental partial current densities (for organic oxidation) over the organic substrate concentrations (C_sub). Error bars were obtained from three independent experiments. Solid curves illustrate the simulated reaction rates as a function of θ_sub*, with a fixed bulk pH value (i.e., C_OH−= 1 M, which would not change significantly during the whole reaction). b The schematic illustration of the surface co-adsorption of organic molecules and active OH* species and the bimolecular reaction (highlighted in shading) between them. The dark blue and red balls represent the metal site and oxygen atom, respectively. “Sub” represents the organic substance (R-CHO, R-CH₂OH, and R-CH₂NH₂ in this work), “Sub-ox” represents the oxidation product and superscript “*” indicates the adsorbed species. c The typical microkinetic simulation of the surface coverages of possible species for α-Ni(OH)₂.