Photocatalytic biomass valorization represents a promising way to produce sustainable and non-fossil based carbon products. Even more desirable is that the oxidative biomass upgrading can be integrated with H2 production. This poster will present our recent results in the upgrading of crucial biomass-derived intermediate chemicals, i.e., furfural alcohol, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), benzyl alcohol, cinnamyl alcohol, etc, to value-added products (aldehydes and acids), which 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. Our ultrathin Ni/CdS nanosheets exhibited excellent activity and robust stability. Strategically designing the catalyst and reaction conditions enables us to achieve either aldehydes or acids selectively. Overall, our results indicate that it is feasible to employ low-cost ultrathin photocatalysts to integrate H2 production with oxidative biomass upgrading under mild conditions.

A universal strategy for visible-light-driven H2 production integrated with biomass upgrading

255th National Meeting (2018)

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