Hengbo Yin

The catalytic valorization of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) provides an important route toward sustainable chemical production. Herein, we report a bimetallic Pt₁Au₁ catalyst supported on Vulcan XC-72R carbon (Pt₁Au₁/XC) that enables efficient aerobic oxidation of HMF to FDCA using NaHCO₃ as a weak base. Under optimized conditions (100 °C, 1 MPa O₂, NaHCO₃/HMF = 3:1, 12 h), the catalyst achieves near-quantitative HMF conversion (>99%) with an FDCA selectivity of 94.2%, substantially outperforming monometallic Pt/XC and Au/XC as well as their physical mixtures. The enhanced performance is associated with the beneficial combination of Pt and Au, together with the favorable surface and transport properties imparted by the carbon support. Kinetic and intermediate-trapping experiments indicate a dual-pathway oxidation mechanism, wherein Au facilitates aldehyde oxidation (via 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (HMFCA)) and Pt promotes alcohol oxidation (via furan-2,5-dicarbaldehyde (DFF)), with both routes converging at 2-formyl-5-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA) for subsequent conversion to FDCA. The catalyst exhibited only a marginal decrease in catalytic activity after five consecutive cycles. Overall, this work provides insight into the roles of bimetallic effects and support properties in HMF oxidation and offers a useful strategy for designing efficient catalysts for biomass-derived furan oxidation.

This paper reviews the synthesis methods of glycerol carbonate, such as phosgene method, oxidative carbonylation, transesterification, urea glycerolysis, and direct carbonylation. The latest advances in the synthesis of glycerol carbonate were outlined and their drawbacks were also pointed out. The research advances and issues in the catalytic carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂ were discussed and assessed in detail. When the carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂ was homogeneously catalyzed by di(n-butyl)tin(IV)oxide and HDBU⁺I^‒ protic ionic liquid catalysts utilizing 13X zeolite and styrene oxide as dehydrating agents, glycerol carbonate yields reached 35% and 79.1%, respectively. In the carbonylation reaction catalyzed by di(n-butyl)tin(IV)oxide catalyst, it was suggested that di(n-butyl)tin(IV)oxide was firstly activated by methanol molecules, glycerol molecules replaced the methoxy groups to be activated, and then CO₂ molecules interacted with the activated glycerol molecules to produce glycerol carbonate. While HDBU⁺I^‒ protic ionic liquid catalyzed the carbonylation reaction, HDBU⁺ and I^‒ ions activated glycerol and CO₂ molecules, resulting in the formation of glycerol carbonate. When the carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂ was heterogeneously catalyzed by ZnO catalyst without using a dehydrating agent and Zn-doped CeO₂ nanorod catalyst using 2-cyanopyridine as a dehydrating agent, yields of glycerol carbonate were 8.1% and 80.9%, respectively. The dehydrating agent in situ eliminates water in the carbonylation process, which improves the forward reaction towards glycerol carbonate and increases glycerol carbonate yield. Various catalytic reaction mechanisms were proposed in direct carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂ towards glycerol carbonate when solid phase catalysts were utilized, which require further investigation. In direct carbonylation of glycerol with CO₂, the key problems are to design effective catalysts for activating stable CO₂ molecule and efficient dehydrating agent inert to both glycerol and CO₂.

Thermal valorization of surplus biomass-derived feedstocks such as glycerol into high-value chemicals represents a sustainable strategy for biomass utilization and decarbonization of chemical manufacturing. However, conventional glycerol conversion processes are often restricted to low-value C1 products owing to rapid C–C bond cleavage during thermo-oxidation. Herein, we report highly efficient Au-Pt bimetallic alloy catalysts supported on mixed-oxide catalysts that enable the selective oxidation of glycerol under ambient conditions in the absence of a base. The synergistic interaction between Au and Pt promotes preferential oxidation of the terminal hydroxyl groups while preserving the C3 backbone, thereby affording the desirable C3 product, glyceric acid. The single-factor experiments and response surface analysis demonstrated that the Au-Pt bimetallic alloy catalysts supported on the mixed oxide MgO-Al₂O₃ exhibited a glycerol conversion of up to 82.0% and a glyceric acid selectivity of 62.1% under favorable reaction conditions. Kinetic studies further indicated that the activation energy of this catalyst in the reaction system is 32.7 kJ/mol.

Electrochemical glycerol oxidation presents a sustainable and environmentally friendly pathway for formic acid production, addressing the significant carbon emissions and resource dependency associated with conventional industrial processes. However, the development of advanced electrocatalysts with high formic acid selectivity and durability remains challenging due to the polyhydroxy structure and carbon chain complexity of glycerol, which lead to intricate oxidation pathways and a wide variety of products. To tackle this issue, we report a AuCu-Ag/AgBr catalyst with a multiphase interface, referring to the integrated boundaries among AuCu, Ag, and AgBr phases that interact with the liquid electrolyte, for high-rate and high-efficiency glycerol oxidation. Comprehensive characterizations reveal that the multiphase interface may effectively modulate the adsorption configurations of glycerol molecules and enhance charge transfer efficiency. Under ambient conditions, glycerol electro-oxidation at 1.43 V for 8 h yielded a conversion of 38% and a formic acid selectivity of 81%, and recycling tests confirmed its high stability under prolonged electrolysis. This synergistic catalytic effect provides a kinetically favorable pathway for formic acid production, demonstrating the potential of AuCu-Ag/AgBr catalysts in advancing sustainable glycerol valorization.

Graphite nanosheets with thicknesses of approximately 4 nm and lateral sizes of about 7 μm were facilely prepared through sand‐milling exfoliation of expanded graphite powder in an aqueous medium. The resultant graphite nanosheets were oxidized with H₂O₂ and subsequently modified with sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) to endow them with hydrophobicity. The SDBS‐modified graphite nanosheets could be effectively filled into polystyrene microspheres with uniform dispersion via in situ suspension polymerization. The SDBS‐modified graphite nanosheet/polystyrene nanocomposite demonstrated excellent antistatic and flame‐retardant performance at a remarkably low filler content of 4 wt%. The surface electrical resistance and limiting oxygen index of the nanocomposite were 2.14 × 10⁸ Ω·sq.⁻¹ and 28.2%, respectively. The closely neighboring of graphite nanosheets within the polystyrene matrix reduces electron transfer barriers between nanosheets and constructs effective partitions to suppress the permeation of flammable pyrolyzed gases during combustion, which endows the SDBS‐modified graphite nanosheet/polystyrene nanocomposite with enhanced antistatic performance and flame retardancy.

NiS nanoparticles were chemically deposited on the surface of g-C₃N₄, in situ, followed by high-temperature calcination to prepare x-NiS/g-C₃N₄ co-catalyst-based S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts. Due to the intrinsic charge accumulation preference on specific crystal planes of g-C₃N₄, NiS nanoparticles selectively deposited on its surface and formed a strong interfacial contact, thereby constructing an S-scheme heterojunction with co-catalytic functionality. This structure effectively suppressesd the recombination of electron–hole pairs in the valence band, significantly enhancing the separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers, and thereby improving performance in photocatalytic CO₂ reduction. Compared with pure g-C₃N₄, the x-NiS/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts exhibit superior CO₂ reduction activity. Among them, the sample with 1.0% NiS loading showed the best performance, achieving CO and CH₄ production rates of 27.34 μmol/g and 13.87 μmol/g, respectively, within 4 h.