Metal-catalyzed Electrocatalytic Acetylene Semi-hydrogenation: from Mechanistic Insights to Performance Opportunities

Abstract

Ethylene can be produced from acetylene via a simple hydrogenation reaction. Another component for ethylene production is hydrogen, which can be easily produced by water electrolysis. Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of acetylene can be considered as a sustainable approach due to green electricity and lower operation temperatures. This review examines advances in the catalytic selective hydrogenation of acetylene. The selective hydrogenation of acetylene involves dissolution and absorption, electrolysis of water to form hydrogen, hydrogenation of adsorbed acetylene with electro-derived hydrogen, and desorption of ethylene. Each process was used as the core for the sections in this review. Accordingly, each section contains data on the mechanistic investigations, improvements highlighted in the references, and further challenges that need to be addressed. The conclusions section represents a discussion of promising approaches and possible future research directions for improving hydrogenation efficiency.