Today a large fraction of plastics and other material products come from the refinement of fossil fuels. With the potential volatility in fossil fuel availability in the future there is a need for alternative sustainable means of producing the products we use on a daily basis. Electrochemical oxidation of biomass/biomass-derivatives to value-added products is one such alternative, and can be coupled with renewable energy to reduce its carbon footprint.

In the present work we explore the electro oxidation of several unconventional electrochemical feedstocks: benzyl alcohol, glycerol, and methane. The activity of ionic materials (e.g. transition metal oxides, sulfides, phosphides) for the previously mentioned reactions is investigated and compared to that of platinum and gold. XPS and XRD are used to determine the phase and oxidation state of these ionic materials to elucidate the active site for said reactions. Meanwhile NMR is used for the detection and quantification of liquid phase products as a function of electrolyte pH, applied potential, and time to determine catalyst activity and selectivity.