d-Electron tuned CoMoP for enhance 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation and HER

Implementing d-electron complementation by atomic doping can improve the catalyst's catalytic activity, but the exact active sites and detailed mechanism of this catalyst remain ambiguous in the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMFOR) and hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). Here, CoMoP nanoplates are successfully fabricated via the 3d orbital filling characteristics. It is found that Mo can disorder the coordination environment of Co, promoting surface electro-generation of MoOx and CoOOH species. Meanwhile, CoP can only oxidize the formyl group to produce carboxylate, while MoOx and CoOOH species are required to oxidize the hydroxyl group. Additionally, the introduction of Mo makes the lattice expansion of CoP leading to Co d-band center up-shift, benefiting to hydrogen adsorption for enhancing HER activity. Therefore, selective production of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furan carboxylic acid (HMFCA) and 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and promotion of HER reaction activity can be achieved through d-electron tuning.