Cobalt-doped copper vanadate: a dual active electrocatalyst propelling efficient H 2 evolution and glycerol oxidation in alkaline water.

Strategically doped metal oxide nanomaterials signify a rapidly growing genre of functional materials with a wide range of practical applications. Copper vanadate (CuV) represents one such highly active system, which has been rarely explored following its doping with an abundant first-row transition metal. Here, we have developed a series of CuV samples with varying cobalt(ii) doping concentrations deploying a relatively simple solid state synthetic procedure. Among the samples, the 10% Co(ii)-doped CuV (Co 10% -CuV) exhibited excellent reactivity for both the H 2 evolution reaction (HER) and glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) in an alkaline aqueous medium (pH 14.0) during cathodic and anodic scans, respectively. During this dual-active catalysis, surface-immobilized Co 10% -CuV operates at exceptionally low overpotentials of 176 mV and 160 mV for the HER and GOR, respectively, while achieving 10 mA cm 2 current density. The detailed spectroscopic analysis revealed the formation of formate as the major product during the GOR with a faradaic efficiency of >90%. Therefore, this Co 10% -CuV can be included on either side of a two-electrode electrolyzer assembly to trigger a complete biomass-driven H 2 production, establishing an ideal carbon-neutral energy harvest process.