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Research Article | Open Access

Biomass-derived 2D Pb0/Pb2+ dual-center-site catalysts for efficient 5-hydroxymethylfurfural electroreduction

Haoran Wu1, Haishan Xu2, Zhenbing Xie3 (), Runlu Yang1, Xin Wang1, Xinwei Chen2, Liang Wu2, Chongyin Zhang4(), Weixia Zhu1 (), Yiyong Mai2 ()
School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Department of Chemistry, Tangshan Normal University, Tangshan 063000, China
Shanghai Aerospace Equipments Manufacturer Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200245, China
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Electron-deficient Pb0/Pb2+ dual-center-site catalysts anchored on biomass-based carbon nanosheets were synthesized for efficient 5-hydroxymethylfurfural electroreduction to 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan. The high coverage of active hydrogen (H*) species and the synergistic effect of dual-center sites substantially reduced the reaction energy barrier of H* and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and accelerated HMF reduction kinetics.

Abstract

Using natural resources to construct electrocatalysts for biomass conversion and elucidating their catalytic mechanisms are of great significance, but have remained challenging. Here, a series of two-dimensional (2D) biomass-based Pb/PbO@C catalysts with Pb/PbO nanoparticles anchored on carbon nanosheets were synthesized using natural-derived humate as the precursor. By adjusting the carbonization temperature, an electron-deficient Pb0/Pb2+ dual-center-site catalyst can be achieved. The optimized Pb/PbO@C catalyst showed an excellent performance for the electrochemical hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to high value-added 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF), with high Faradaic efficiency (FE: 91.9%) and selectivity (Sel: 89.7%), achieving comparable performance to those of the reported noble metal-based electrocatalysts. Mechanism study revealed that the electron-deficient Pb0/Pb2+ dual-center-site provided abundant Lewis acidic sites and promoted the dissociation of water to the active hydrogen (H*) species, thus enhancing the adsorption of HMF on Pb2+ sites and the coverage of H* species on Pb0 sites. The high coverage of H* species and the synergistic effect of dual-center sites substantially promoted the binding of H* and HMF to form H-HMF* and inhibited the recombination of H* species, thereby accelerating the reaction kinetics of HMF reduction.

Keywords

biomass conversionbiomass-derived carbon materialselectrocatalysishydrogenation5-hydroxymethylfurfural

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Nano Research
Volume 18 Issue 2,
February 2025
Article number: 94907089
DOI: 10.26599/NR.2025.94907089
Cite this article:
Wu H, Xu H, Xie Z, et al. Biomass-derived 2D Pb0/Pb2+ dual-center-site catalysts for efficient 5-hydroxymethylfurfural electroreduction. Nano Research, 2025, 18(2): 94907089. https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907089
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