Amorphous Ni-Mo-B-O Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Simultaneous Production of Hydrogen and Value-added Chemicals

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) coupled with biomass conversion is a sustainable route to produce clean energy H-2 and value-added chemicals simultaneously. Herein, an amorphous Ni-Mo-B-O bifunctional electrocatalyst was synthesized through a facile electrodeposition method and employed as a cathode for HER to produce H-2 and as an anode for the conversion of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Besides leading to the formation of amorphous structures, the introduction of Mo and B can increase the electron density and optimize the electronic structure of the electrocatalyst, thus substantially increasing the catalytic activity of the catalyst. After continuous reaction at a constant potential of 0.58 V vs. Hg/HgO for 8 hours, the conversion of HMF reached 98.86 %, and the selectivity of the target product FDCA was as high as 92.97 %. Finally, a two-electrolyzer system was constructed using the amorphous Ni-Mo-B-O as both cathode and anode to achieve simultaneous H-2 production in the cathode chamber and FDCA production in the anode chamber at a low voltage. This work presents a promising strategy for the design and synthesis of high-performance non-noble metal electrocatalysts for efficient and cost-effective H-2 production.