Visible-Light-Driven Valorization of Biomass Intermediates Integrated with H 2 Production Catalyzed by Ultrathin Ni/CdS Nanosheets

Photocatalytic upgrading of crucial biomass-derived intermediate chemicals (i.e., furfural alcohol, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)) to value-added products (aldehydes and acids) was carried out on ultrathin CdS nanosheets (thickness ∼1 nm) decorated with nickel (Ni/CdS). More importantly, simultaneous H2 production was realized upon visible light irradiation under ambient conditions utilizing these biomass intermediates as proton sources. The remarkable difference in the rates of transformation of furfural alcohol and HMF to their corresponding aldehydes in neutral water was observed and investigated. Aided by theoretical computation, it was rationalized that the slightly stronger binding affinity of the…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 21673072, 21333003
• DO
  Division of Chemistry

  Award: CHE-1653978