In Situ Electrochemical Reconstitution of CF-CuO/CeO2 for Efficient Active Species Generation

CuO-Ni(OH)2 heterostructure nanosheets: a high-performance electrocatalyst for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation

CuO-Ni(OH)2 heterostructure nanosheets were designed for efficient electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furanedioic acid (FDCA). The CuO-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets exhibited impressive performance, achieving 100% HMF conversion, 99.8% FDCA yield, and 98.4% faradaic efficiency.

Cu Promoted the Dynamic Evolution of Ni-Based Catalysts for Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastic Upcycling

Upcycling plastic wastes into value-added chemicals is a promising approach to put end-of-life plastic wastes back into their ecocycle. As one of the polyesters that is used daily, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste is employed here as the model substrate. Herein, a nickel (Ni)-based catalyst was prepared via electrochemically depositing copper (Cu) species on Ni foam (NiCu/NF). The NiCu/NF formed Cu/CuO and Ni/NiO/Ni(OH)2 core-shell structures before electrolysis and reconstructed into NiOOH and CuOOH/Cu(OH)2 active species during the ethylene glycol (EG) oxidation. After oxidation, the Cu and Ni species evolved into more reduced species. An indirect mechanism was identified as the main EG oxidation (EGOR) mechanism. In EGOR, NiCu60s/NF catalyst exhibited an optimal Faradaic efficiency (FE, 95.8%) and yield rate (0.70 mmol cm-2 h-1) for formate production. Also, over 80% FE of formate was achieved when a commercial PET plastic powder hydrolysate was applied. Furthermore, commercial PET plastic water bottle waste was employed as a substrate for electrocatalytic upcycling, and pure terephthalic acid (TPA) was recovered only after 1 h electrolysis. Lastly, density functional theory (DFT) calculation revealed that the key role of Cu was significantly reducing the Gibbs free-energy barrier (ΔG) of EGOR's rate-determining step (RDS), promoting catalysts' dynamic evolution, and facilitating the C-C bond cleavage.

Selective and Robust Ru Catalyst for the Aqueous Phase Aerobic Oxidation of Furfural to 2-Furoic Acid

Synthesis of 2-furoic acid (FURA) via oxidation of furfural (FAL) is vital in evolving the biorefinery concept as FURA has numerous important applications in the pharmaceuticals and optic areas. Though few works on this reaction are done, those are marred with shortcomings such as the nonrecyclability of catalyst, dilute solutions, lower yields, or use of H2O2 as an oxidizing agent. Herein, we report catalytic aqueous phase oxidation of FAL to FURA using molecular oxygen as an oxidizing agent. For the synthesis of FURA, various catalysts with a combination of metal (Pt, Pd, Ru) and supports (carbon, Al2O3) were prepared and characterized by multiple techniques (X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)). Oxidation of FAL carried out over 5 wt % Ru/C catalyst in the presence of Na2CO3 yielded 83% of FURA at 120 °C and 15 bar oxygen pressure. The catalyst could show potential for reusability as similar activity was achieved after subjecting the spent catalyst to mild reduction treatment (150 °C). Studies on the effects of temperature, pressure, and time could help accomplish enhanced yields of FURA. Additionally, learning about the effect of base (weak/strong/solid) revealed that due to the weak basicity of Na2CO3, higher yields could be achieved by maintaining approximately a pH of 11, which is optimal for suppressing side reactions. Under the given conditions, FURA is stable (>90%) and also adsorption studies divulge that it is immediately removed from the catalyst surface, and hence higher yields could be achieved in our catalytic system. Using the initial rates methodology, an activation energy of 21.91 kJ mol-1 was derived and also a high turn over frequency (TOF) (85.9 h-1) was observed under optimized conditions.

CeO2/Ni-MOF with Synergistic Function of Enrichment and Activation: Efficient Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol Pollutant to 4-Aminophenol

The conversion of organic pollutants to value-added chemicals has been considered as a sustainable approach to solve environmental problems. However, it is still a challenge to construct a suitable heterogeneous catalyst that can synchronously achieve the enrichment and activation of organic pollutants (such as 4-nitrophenol, 4-NP). Here, an organic-inorganic hybrid catalyst (CeO₂/Ni-MOF) was successfully fabricated for efficiently reducing 4-NP to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) with water as the hydrogen source. Based on the synergistic effect of Ni-MOF (adsorption action) and CeO₂ (active sites), CeO₂/Ni-MOF could achieve a reaction rate of 1.102 μmol min^-1 mg^-1 with an ultrahigh Faraday efficiency (FE) (99.9%) and conversion (97.6%). In addition, the catalytic mechanism of 4-NP reduction over CeO₂/Ni-MOF was elaborated in depth. This work presents a new avenue for the effective reduction of pollutants and provides a new strategy for designing high-performance catalysts for rare-earth metals.