Cobalt–metalloid alloys for electrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural as an alternative anode reaction in lieu of oxygen evolution during water splitting

• Jonas Weidner,
• Stefan Barwe,
• Kirill Sliozberg,
• Stefan Piontek,
• Justus Masa,
• Ulf-Peter Apfel and
• Wolfgang Schuhmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1436–1445, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.121

• storable energy carrier. We report on the anodic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to afford the more valuable product 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) as a suitable alternative to the oxygen evolution reaction. Notably, HMF oxidation is thermodynamically more favorable than water oxidation and

• valuable product for the chemical industry with potential large scale use. Various cobalt–metalloid alloys (CoX; X = B, Si, P, Te, As) were investigated as potential catalysts for HMF oxidation. In this series, CoB required 180 mV less overpotential to reach a current density of 55 mA cm−2 relative to OER

• with the same electrode. Electrolysis of HMF using a CoB modified nickel foam electrode at 1.45 V vs RHE achieved close to 100% selective conversion of HMF to FDCA at 100% faradaic efficiency. Keywords: alternative anode reaction; electrocatalysis; electrosynthesis; HMF oxidation; hydrogen evolution