Wang Linlin, Chen Lin, Xu Ruirui, Khan Mohd Adnan, Zhao Jun, Yu Xinti, Björk Jonas, Rosen Johanna, Hu Jinguang, Chen Zhangxing, Zhao Heng
College of Engineering, Eastern Institute of Technology, No. 568 Tongxin Road, 315200 Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
Materials Design Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden.
Nano Lett. 2025 Oct 1;25(39):14481-14488. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c04048. Epub 2025 Sep 16.
Selective valorization of biomass feedstocks and their derivatives, using renewable electricity to produce value-added chemicals, is a promising route to decarbonize the chemical industry. Herein, we demonstrate the selective production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from the electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). NiCoS as an anode electrode exhibits almost 100% yield of FDCA with >90% Faradaic efficiency (FE) and high stability at optimized conditions, which outperforms pure NiS and CoS. Theoretical calculations reveal that the enhanced reaction kinetics for HMF conversion to FDCA on NiCoS arises from an optimal OH coverage and a more exergonic rate-limiting step compared with its monometallic counterparts. A techno-economic analysis (TEA) for a 100-ton/day FDCA industrial scale production facility reveals that the NiCoS catalyst could drive economic feasibility of the process. This work provides an economically feasible approach to sustainably produce FDCA from HMF oxidation by electrocatalysis.
