Highly selective and effective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural by Co-Ni based electrodeposited bimetallic oxide nanostructures

In this work, highly efficient and inexpensive CoO and CoO-NiO nanostructures were synthesized by facile electrodeposition technique for the selective and efficient oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). The prepared CoO and CoO-NiO effectively oxidized the biomass derived HMF to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) at lower onset potential value of 1.32 VRHE and 1.23 VRHE, respectively. The CoO-NiO nanostructures achieved complete HMF conversion with 99 % FDCA yield and 99.2 % Faradaic efficiency at 1.38 VRHE. The performed study revealed that the addition of Ni into CoO-NiO have had a significant impact on oxidizing activity by lowering the charge transfer resistance and enhancing the electrochemical surface area. As per our knowledge, this is for the first time, a non-precious bimetallic oxides bearing significant efficiency have been developed for vigorous production of desired FDCA. The inexpensive Co-Ni based bimetallic oxide may be demonstrated as a potent material for highly selective and effective electrocatalytic biomass valorization.