Interfacial coupling effect promotes selective electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural into the value-added products under neutral conditions

Yiyuan Tao; Shiying Fan; Xinyong Li; Jing Yang; Jingang Wang; Guohua Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.042

Interfacial coupling effect promotes selective electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural into the value-added products under neutral conditions

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Jan 15;654(Pt A):731-739. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.042. Epub 2023 Oct 11.

Authors

Yiyuan Tao¹, Shiying Fan², Xinyong Li³, Jing Yang¹, Jingang Wang¹, Guohua Chen⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China. Electronic address: fansy@dlut.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China. Electronic address: xyli@dlut.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.

PMID: 37866045
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.042

Abstract

Owing to the sluggish reaction kinetics, it is a promising yet challenging task to achieve the adequate electricity-driven catalytic oxidation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in neutral conditions. Herein, we have prepared an elelctrocatalyst with interfacial coupling effect through in-situ growth of Cu phthalocyanine (CuPc) on Co₃O₄ spinel (Co₃O₄/CuPc), which constructs an effective electrocatalytic system of HMF oxidation with overall oxidation value-added products yield and total Faraday efficiency up to 80% and 70%, respectively. The interfacial coupling effect between CuPc and Co₃O₄ spinel improve catalytic activity by effectively boosting the interfacial charge transfer and reducing the formation energy of key *C₆H₃O₄ in the catalytic pathway according to the in situ Raman spectroscopy and DFT simulation. This work illustrates the significance of interfacial coupling effect for developing highly efficient electrocatalysts applied for neutral system of biomass oxidation.

Keywords: 5-hydroxymethylfurfural; Co(3)O(4)/CuPc; Electrocatalytic oxidation; Interfacial coupling effect; Neutral conditions.