Document Type
Review
Abstract
Electrooxidation of small organic molecules (e.g., methanol, urea, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural) represents a promising strategy to replace the kinetically sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water electrolysis, thereby reducing hydrogen production energy consumption and simultaneously achieving co-production of value-added chemicals or degradation of environmental pollutants. However, single-component catalysts often struggle to achieve efficient coupling between organic molecules and OER-derived oxygen species. This review addresses this challenge by highlighting the pivotal role of catalyst interface engineering (including reconstruction), drawing on our series of studies and relevant important reports. By constructing heterointerfaces, electronic structures can be modulated and intermediate adsorption optimized, thereby enhancing the activity, selectivity, and stability of electrooxidation reactions of small organic molecules. Additionally, we outline future directions, including deepening the mechanistic understanding via operando techniques, achieving atomic-level precision in interface synthesis, investigating long-term stability under operational conditions, and bridging the gap between fundamental research and practical device applications. This review enables researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the critical role of composite catalyst interface engineering and its reconstruction in the electrooxidation technology for small-molecule organic compounds.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
Reconstruction, Interface engineering, Methanol electrooxidation, Urea electrooxidation, 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural electrooxidation
DOI
10.61558/2993-074X.3626
Online Date
9-22-2026
Recommended Citation
Peiyun Zhou, Ligang Feng. Toward Efficient Small Organic Molecule Electrooxidation: Catalyst Interface Engineering[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, doi: 10.61558/2993-074X.3626.
