Issue 23, 2023

Harnessing solar energy for electrocatalytic biorefinery using lignin-derived photothermal materials

Abstract

The bio-refinery of lignocellulose exhibits great potential for sustainable development. However, technical barriers for proper utilization of lignin and heavy energy consumption have challenged the profitability and sustainability of such biorefineries. Here, we efficiently converted lignin to photothermal materials (D-Lig-Fe) by the demethylation of lignin and coordinating with Fe3+, producing electricity that could be utilized for the electrocatalytic conversion of 5-hydromethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) when coupled with a thermoelectric generator (TEG) in the bio-refinery. Specifically, D-Lig-Fe exhibited robust and high photothermal efficiency (∼36%), producing electricity up to 1.6 V upon natural solar irradiation assisted by a Fresnel lens together with TEG. The as-generated electricity drove a high-yielding conversion of HMF to FDCA via NiCoB catalyst-based electrocatalysis in the bio-refinery. We anticipate that this research will help establish an efficient and practical approach toward an integrated biorefinery.

Graphical abstract: Harnessing solar energy for electrocatalytic biorefinery using lignin-derived photothermal materials

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Feb 2023
Accepted
10 May 2023
First published
31 May 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 12308-12314

Harnessing solar energy for electrocatalytic biorefinery using lignin-derived photothermal materials

X. Zhao, L. Shi, B. Tian, S. Li, S. Liu, J. Li, S. Liu, T. D. James and Z. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 12308 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA01023F

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