Non-precious Metal Catalysts for Electro-oxidation Upgrading of 5-Hydroxymethy Furfural

Hydroxymethylfurfural is a furan compound,which is cheap and widely available,and can be used as a platform chemical to generate value-added products. Traditional thermo-catalytic methods always require high temperature, high pressure, and precious metal catalysts, leading to low economic benefits. By contrast, the electrocatalytic methods do not require harsh conditions including high temperature and high pressure; meanwhile, by using well-designed non-precious metal electrocatalysts,the selective conversion of hydroxymethylfurfural has been achieved, i.e., using precious metal catalysts is not necessary. Reasonably, the upgrading of hydroxymethylfurfural platform compounds via electro-oxidation methods has received extensive attention. Among the various products, 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid was crowned as one of the most valuable twelve biomass-derived chemicals by the department of energy of the united states. In this regard, this paper focuses on the electro-oxidation of hydroxymethyl furfural to generate 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and review the research progress of non-noble metal catalysts. Finally, prospects for the development of non-precious metal catalysts for the electrooxidation of hydroxymethyl furfural are provided.