Electrocatalysis offers a potential sustainable route toward plastic monomers, as exemplified by the electrooxidation of biomass derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). However, the scale-up of this process is largely limited by the availability of suitable anodic electrocatalysts. Here we developed a facile approach to fabricate self-supported Ni(OH)2 nanoarray through the corrosion of nickel foam under moist O2 atmosphere, resulting in an efficient and stable anode for HMF electrooxidation toward FDCA with 99% of Faradaic efficiency for 79 cycles. This method enables the scalable manufacture of a large-area, uniform nickel anode up to 8050 cm2. The obtained electrodes enable continuous HMF electrooxidation coupled with hydrogen production in a membrane-free electrolyzer with a geometric electrode area of 80 cm2 at 10 A for 174 h with high single-pass conversion (∼98%) and FDCA selectivity (∼93%). Finally, this system was showcased for solar powered FDCA electrosynthesis and its application in manufacturing polyethylene furandicarboxylate plastic for 3D printing. This work provides a promising strategy for scalable electrocatalytic biomass valorization.
Li et al. (Thu,) studied this question.