Enhanced electrocatalytic biomass oxidation at low voltage by Ni2+-O-Pd interfaces
An Pei, Peng Wang, Shiyi Zhang, Qinghua Zhang, Xiaoyi Jiang, Zhaoxi Chen, Weiwei Zhou, Qizhen Qin, Renfeng Liu, Ruian Du, Zheng Jian Li, Yongcai Qiu, Keyou Yan, Lin Gu, Jinyu Ye, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Wei‐Hsiang Huang, Chi‐Liang Chen, Yun Zhao, Guangxu Chen
Abstract
Abstract Challenges in direct catalytic oxidation of biomass-derived aldehyde and alcohol into acid with high activity and selectivity hinder the widespread biomass application. Herein, we demonstrate that a Pd/Ni(OH) 2 catalyst with abundant Ni 2+ -O-Pd interfaces allows electrooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid with a selectivity near 100 % and 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid yield of 97.3% at 0.6 volts (versus a reversible hydrogen electrode) in 1 M KOH electrolyte under ambient conditions. The rate-determining step of the intermediate oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid is promoted by the increased OH species and low C–H activation energy barrier at Ni 2+ -O-Pd interfaces. Further, the Ni 2+ -O-Pd interfaces prevent the agglomeration of Pd nanoparticles during the reaction, greatly improving the stability of the catalyst. In this work, Pd/Ni(OH) 2 catalyst can achieve 100% 5-hydroxymethylfurfural conversion and >90% 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid selectivity in a flow-cell and work stably over 200 h under a fixed cell voltage of 0.85 V.