Electrochemical Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural on CeO2-Modified Co3O4 with Regulated Intermediate Adsorption and Promoted Charge Transfer

Electrocatalytic 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation reaction (HMFOR) can replace the kinetically slow oxygen evolution reaction to yield high value-added chemicals. In this study, interface engineering is constructed by modifying CeO2 nanoparticles on Co3O4 nanowires supported by nickel foam (NF). The construction of the heterointerface can facilitate the structural evolution of catalysts and charge transfer, as a result, the successfully synthesized NF@Co3O4/CeO2 exhibits higher 5-hydroxymethylfurfural conversion (98.0%), 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) yield (94.5%), and Faradaic efficiency (97.5%) at a low electrolysis potential of 1.40 V-RHE compared to NF@Co3O4 and NF@CeO2. Density-functional theory calculations indicate that the establishment of heterointerface can effectively regulate the intermediate adsorption and promote electron transfer, which greatly reduces the activation energy of the dehydrogenation step in 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA), and promotes the further oxidation of FFCA to FDCA, thereby improving the performance of HMFOR. In this study, the HMFOR behavior of the Co3O4/CeO2 interface effect is deeply explored, which provides guidance for the future design of heterointerface catalysts with efficient HMFOR performance.