Atomic-Interface Effect of Single-Atom Ru/CoOx for Selective Electrooxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural

Wenlei Gu; An Pei; Shiyi Zhang; Feifei Jiang; Yanyan Jia; Qizhen Qin; Ruian Du; Zhengjian Li; Renfeng Liu; Yongcai Qiu; Keyou Yan; Yun Zhao; Cheng Liang; Guangxu Chen

doi:10.1021/acsami.3c03430

Atomic-Interface Effect of Single-Atom Ru/CoO_x for Selective Electrooxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Jun 14;15(23):28036-28043. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c03430. Epub 2023 May 30.

Authors

Wenlei Gu¹, An Pei¹, Shiyi Zhang¹, Feifei Jiang¹, Yanyan Jia², Qizhen Qin¹, Ruian Du¹, Zhengjian Li¹, Renfeng Liu¹, Yongcai Qiu¹, Keyou Yan¹, Yun Zhao¹, Cheng Liang¹, Guangxu Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment and Energy, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200030, China.

PMID: 37253144
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c03430

Abstract

The development of single-atom catalysts with effective interfaces for biomass conversion is a promising but challenging research area. In this study, a Ru₁/CoO_x catalyst was successfully fabricated with the impregnation method, which featured Ru single atoms on a cobalt oxide substrate. The Ru₁/CoO_x catalyst showed superior performance in the selective electrooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to produce 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a high value-added product. The introduction of Ru single atoms with an ultralow loading of ∼0.5 wt % was revealed to accelerate the electroredox of Co²⁺/Co³⁺/Co⁴⁺ and improve the intrinsic activity of the CoO_x substrate with an FDCA selectivity of 76.5%, which is better than that of the pristine CoO_x electrocatalysts (62.7%). The interfacial synergistic effect of the Ru₁/CoO_x interface clarified that Ru single atoms can enhance the adsorption of HMF at the Ru₁/CoO_x interface, which promoted the rate-determining step of the selective C-H bond activation for FDCA production. This finding provides valuable insights into the rational design of single-atom catalysts with functional interfaces for biomass upgrading.

Keywords: 5-hydroxymethyfurfural; cobalt oxide; interface effects; ruthenium single atom; selective electrooxidation.