Preliminary study of electrochemical conversion of glucose on novel modified nickel electrodes

Gluconic acid and sorbitol are among the value-added chemicals that can be derived from biomass. Nowadays, these compounds are typically produced through biotechnological processes, but electrochemical methods offer numerous advantages over alternative approaches. While studies have extensively explored metals like copper, palladium, gold, and platinum, nickel has received relatively limited attention in this context. Notably, nickel exhibits electrochemical activity suitable for organic electrosynthesis. This work has been achieved with 5-h long-term electrolysis, glucose as a reactant, utilizing modified nickel electrodes in a KOH solution. While these studies achieved substantial conversion rates, the selectivities and Faraday efficiencies toward gluconic acid and sorbitol remained comparatively low. The long-term electrolysis of glucose using modified nickel electrodes resulted in the identification of various side products. These include formic acid, oxalic acid, glycolic acid, tartronic acid, glyceric acid, and arabinose.