New method combines hot water heat and electricity to oxidize alcohol more cleanly

Explanation

In the chemical industry, reactions that oxidize alcohols into aldehydes or carboxylic acids are widely used, but conventionally required hazardous oxidizing agents or high temperatures and pressures. A research team from Ruhr University Bochum and the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Germany developed a method that uses a cobalt oxide catalyst to efficiently oxidize ethylene glycol by combining renewable electricity with low-temperature waste heat. By varying the temperature and oxygen pressure, different products can be selectively obtained, which is expected to lead to chemical manufacturing with a lower environmental burden.