Dual Modulation Strategy of NiMoOx Active Site by Ionic Liquid for Boosting Electrocatalytic HMF Oxidation Reaction

Abstract

The electrooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to produce value-added chemicals provides an efficient and economical way for the sustainable development of society. However, the development of novel, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly techniques for the synthesis of electrocatalysts to improve HMF oxidation is still a challenge. Herein, we adopted a novel dual modulation strategy based on ionic liquid (IL) regulation to obtain F-doped amorphous nickel molybdenum oxides (NiMoO_x/NF-IL). The acquired NiMoO_x/NF-IL showed excellent catalytic activity (141.3 mA/cm²@1.40 V vs RHE), stability (20 successive cycles), and high yield and FE_FDCA (all over 95%@1.40 V vs RHE) in electrocatalytic HMF oxidation reaction. Specifically, the introduction of an amorphous structure endowed numerous unsaturated sites for the generation of catalytic active sites. Several characterization techniques and theoretical calculation results demonstrated that F doping effectively modulates the coordination environment of the NiOOH active species through its electronegativity, further improving the adsorption behavior of the substrate. The combination of these innate advantages makes NiMoO_x/NF-IL exhibit excellent performance in the electrocatalytic oxidation reaction of HMF to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid.