Efficient and Selective Electrooxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural at Low Voltage by the Pt-O-Ti Interface.

Zhou, Weiwei; Fu, Shuoshuo; Pei, An; Zhang, Junxi; Jiang, Xiaoyi; Liu, Renfeng; Yang, Huayue; Huang, Wei-Hsiang et al. · Nano Lett · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) electrooxidation to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) offers great potential for sustainable chemical production, yet voltage-efficient selective direct oxidation remains challenging. Herein, a Pt/TiO<sub>2</sub> catalyst characterized by dense Pt-O-Ti interfaces is presented, demonstrating an impressive FDCA selectivity of 97.3% at a low potential of 0.8 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode) during the alkaline oxidation of HMF, outperforming Pt/C, which shows only 62.7% selectivity. Additionally, the Pt/TiO<sub>2</sub> catalyst exhibits high CO resistance and remains stable for more than 200 h during HMF oxidation. Experimental data and density functional theory calculations indicate that the enhanced performance originates from strong Pt-O-Ti interfacial electron coupling, which accelerates the rate-determining step of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furanocarboxylic acid oxidation by promoting hydroxyl (OH*) formation and reducing C-H bond activation energy. These results provide crucial insights into the mechanisms of the interface effect relevant to direct biomass electrooxidation at low voltages.