Modulating Ni-S Coordination in Ni3S2 to Promote Electrocatalytic Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural at Ampere-Level Current Density


Electricity-driven oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a highly attractive strategy for biomass transformation. However, achieving industrial-grade current densities remains a great challenge. Herein, by modulating water content in the solvothermal system, Ni3S2/NF with stabilized and shorter Ni-S bonds as well as tunable coordination environment of Ni sites was fabricated. The prepared Ni3S2/NF was highly efficient for electrocatalytic oxidation of HMF to produce FDCA, and the FDCA yield and Faraday efficiency could reach 98.8% and 97.6% at the HMF complete conversion. More importantly, an industrial-grade current density of 1000 mA·cm-2 could be achieved at the potential of only 1.45 V vs. RHE for HMFOR, and the current density could exceed 500 mA·cm-2 with other bio-based compounds as the reactants. The excellent performance of Ni3S2/NF originated from the shorter Ni-S bonds and its better electrochemical properties, which significantly promoted the dehydrogenation step of oxidizing HMF. Besides, the gram-scale FDCA production could be realized on Ni3S2/NF in a MEA reactor. This work provides a robust electrocatalyst with high potentials of practical applications for the electrocatalytic oxidation of biomass-derived compounds.

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