Monocrystal Ni 2 O 3 H/Sb 2 O 3 Heterojunction for Energy‐Saving Hydrogen Evolution Linking to Generation of 2,5‐Furandicarboxylic Acid

Energy crisis coupling environmental pollution caused by biomass is becoming global issues. Electrocatalytical water splitting to produce H 2 and upgrading 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) as 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a “one stone two birds” way to solve these problems in the meantime. Herein, the 0.5Ni 2 O 3 H/0.5Sb 2 O 3 heterojunction was synthesized as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and electrocatalytic HMF oxidative reaction (HMFOR), to utilize the design concept that the Ni 2 O 3 H is in charge of HMFOR, and the Sb 2 O 3 is in charge of HER. The 0.5Ni 2 O 3 H/0.5Sb 2 O 3 shows the outstanding performances with the HMFOR potential of 1.39 V and the HER potential of 129 mV at 10 mA cm −2 in 1 M KOH + 0.1 M HMF. Meanwhile, the HMF is oxidized as FDCA through the 5‐hydroxymethyl‐2‐furancarboxylic acid pathway according to the in situ electrochemical Attenuated Total Reflectance‐Infrared Spectroscopy results, and the selectivity is up to 99.6% and the Faradaic efficiency is 95.5% at 1.3 V. This work provides a facile strategy to design a universal Sb‐based heterojunction for electrocatalytic HER and HMF oxidation to generate FDCA.