A dual-functional Bi-doped Co 3 O 4 nanosheet array towards high efficiency 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation and hydrogen production.

Here, we report that a Bi-doped Co 3 O 4 nanosheet array grown on Ni foam can selectively catalyze HMF-to-FDCA oxidation at ambient conditions. The catalyst shows a faradaic efficiency of 97.7%, a yield rate of 362.5 μmol h -1 , and a conversion of nearly 100%, surpassing those of pristine Co 3 O 4 . Furthermore, when the catalyst was adopted as both the anode and cathode in a two-electrode system, H 2 and FDCA can be produced simultaneously.