(136d) Replacing O2 Reaction at Anode in Water Electrolysis with Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Using Co-Ni Catalyst for Sustainable Green Hydrogen Production

Green hydrogen (H₂) water electrolysis need much high potential than thermodynamically required potential due to oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at anode. Coupling chemical oxidation at lower potential to produced more valuable product than O₂ will not only lowered the power input but will improve the process economics as well. Electrocatalytic oxidation (ECO) of biomass-derived5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at anode for production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is one of the attractive options as FDCA is a potential replacement of fossil fuel derived phthalic anhydride. Finding a bifunctional catalyst to derive the simultaneous oxidation of HMF at anode and H₂ production at cathode is the ultimate goal of this project. In this part of project, CoNi was synthesized through aerosol-assisted chemical deposition with varying deposition times of 1h and 2h. Comparative studies revealed that CoNi deposited on nickel foam for 1h exhibited superior catalytic activity in terms of overpotential and lowest onset potential for HMF oxidation. In addition, CoNi-1h exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity, achieving an impressive HMF conversion rate of 88.24%. The detailed characterizations of the catalyst are done to identify the catalytic behavior toward HMF oxidation. The ECO of HMF to FDCA at anode during water electrolysis is expected to improve the economics of green hydrogen.