Electrodeposition of hybrid nanosheet-structured NiCo2O4 on carbon fiber paper as a non-noble electrocatalyst for efficient electrooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

Abstract

Electrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) has received increasing attention as it is an eco-friendly strategy for synthesizing a key monomer for the production of bio-based plastics. Developing efficient, low-cost and stable electrocatalysts is crucial for this electrochemical reaction. In this work, we have reported a facile process for the synthesis of hybrid nanosheet-structured NiCo₂O₄ on carbon fiber paper (NiCo₂O₄-CFP) for the efficient electrochemical conversion of HMF into FDCA. As a non-noble binary metal-based catalyst, NiCo₂O₄-CFP featured a nanosheet network and 3D nanosheet flower-like microspheres, showing 94.3% selectivity and 89.6% faradaic efficiency (FE) for FDCA, which outperformed its single component metal oxides NiO-CFP and Co₃O₄-CFP. And it also exhibited relatively high stability by maintaining over 80% FE after four successive cycles. The proposed mechanism suggested that the synergistic effect of Ni and Co elements in NiCo₂O₄ could facilitate HMF oxidation.