Dual-function RuNiMo alloy nanofibers for efficient synergistic hydrogen evolution and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural upgrading

A ternary RuNiMo nanofibers catalyst is successfully prepared. • The catalyst achieves precise modulation of the adsorption and desorption kinetics of key reaction intermediates. • The catalyst presents an exceptional HMFOR and HER performance in an alkaline electrolyte. • The overall HMF electrolysis exhibits an enhanced H 2 production with high FDCA yield and cycling stability. The electrocatalytic upgrading of biomass derived feedstocks such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to high-value products, coupled with hydrogen (H 2 ) evolution, represents a promising research direction for addressing current energy and environmental challenges. Herein, we develop RuNiMo alloy nanofibers (NFs) as a high-performance bifunctional electrocatalyst for both HMF oxidation reaction (HMFOR) and H 2 evolution reaction (HER). The synergistic interactions among the three metal components significantly reduce the activation energy barrier of the rate-determining step (RDS) during HMFOR, thereby promoting the selective generation of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Consequently, the catalyst achieves 99.3% HMF conversion, 98.9% FDCA yield, and 99.7% Faradaic efficiency (FE) at 1.45 V vs. RHE. Meanwhile, the catalyst also exhibits favorable water dissociation energy, leading to exceptional HER performance with overpotentials of merely 23 mV and 213 mV to reach current densities of 10 mA cm −2 and 1 A cm −2 , respectively. Moreover, the catalyst demonstrates remarkable stability, maintaining consistent performance for over 100 h at a high current density of 1 A cm −2 . Notably, both the activity and stability of this catalyst greatly outperform those of commercial Pt/C benchmark. When integrated into an HMFOR-assisted water splitting electrolyzer, the system enables a 6.6-fold enhancement in H 2 production rate while maintaining a high FDCA yield of 98.4% with excellent cycling stability. Collectively, this work establishes an effective approach to sustainable biorefining that integrates advanced catalyst design and electrochemical system engineering. Download: Download high-res image (243KB) Download: Download full-size image