Selective Synthesis of Formyl-2-Furancarboxylic Acid via Enhanced Adsorption of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural on Composite Catalysts

Abstract

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a widely used biomass platform chemical that plays a crucial role in bridging biomass and fossil resources. Electrocatalytic oxidation of HMF provides an efficient way to obtain high-value-added biomass-derived chemicals, among which the intermediate product 5-formyl-2-furan carboxylic acid (FFCA) has attracted considerable attention. However, the weak adsorption ability of monometallic nickel oxide (NiOx) to HMF in neutral electrolyte restricts its further development, resulting in low HMF conversion and FFCA yield. In this study, we successfully constructed a novel nickel oxide-platinum oxide hybrid catalyst supported on carbon felt (NiOx-PtOx/CF), which exhibits an optimized adsorption ability of HMF, leading to the outstanding FFCA yield up to 77 % in the neutral media. The high activity of the NiOx-PtOx/CF catalyst can be attributed to the redistribution of the electrons and the optimization of the electronic structure on the Ni active site due to the introduction of PtOx on NiOx nanosheets. This study offers valuable insights for the design of efficient multicomponent electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic biomass refinery systems.