Conducting Polymer Electrocatalysts for Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Reactions: Toward Organic Fuel Cells with Forest Fuels

• Lignin is one of the most abundant biopolymers, constituting 25% of plants. The pulp and paper industries extract lignin in their process and today seek new applications for this by-product. Here, it is reported that the aromatic alcohols obtained from lignin depolymerization can be used as fuel in high power density electrical power sources. This study shows that the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), fabricated from abundant ele-ments via low temperature synthesis, enables efficient, direct, and reversible chemical-to-electrical energy conversion of aromatic alcohols such as lignin residues in aqueous media. A material operation principle related to the rela-tively high molecular diffusion and ionic conductivity within the conducting polymer matrix, ensuring efficient uptake of protons in the course of proton-coupled electron transfers between organic molecules is proposed.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences (hsv//eng)

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