Eco-friendly preparation of coke-derived CuS-doped carbon for selective electrochemical hydrogenation of furfural

Selective electrochemical hydrogenation of furfural (FFL) with high efficiency to produce important platform chemical (furfuryl alcohol) has great economic value and research significance. In this work, a novel and sustainable Pd/CuS@C catalyst derived from waste cooking oil (WCO) was prepared to catalyze the selective electrocatalyst hydrogenation (ECH) of FFL to furfuryl alcohol (FFA) for the first time. As expected, Pd/CuS@C catalyst was only active in C=O ECH to produce FFA in a >99 % selectivity, along with a >99 % conversion of FFL. Selective and stable ECH over time ensured up to six cycles. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated that synergistic interaction between CuS and Pd(111) exhibited the high adsorption energies of H 2 and FFL. Overall, this research innovatively combined WCO treatment and FFL electrocatalytic upgrading, providing a green and environmentally friendly solution for sustainable energy conversion and electrochemical valorization of biomass derivatives.