Involved Member: Dr. Jason Chun Ho LAM

Global dependence on petroleum resources has promoted an excessive release of fossil CO₂ into the atmosphere and marine environment. The catalytic valorization of biomass for renewable carbon-neutral chemical and biofuel production has thus become increasingly important. Dr. Jason Lam’s team recently developed an electrocatalytic method to control the conversion of furfural (a biomass-derived chemical) to either furfuryl alcohol (a valuable chemical precursor) or hydrofuroin (a jet fuel precursor) as main products by controlling the structural phase of a transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) catalyst, MoS₂. The reaction operates in an aqueous environment at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and does not generate any harmful byproducts. The result of this project helps to expand the product outcomes from renewable feedstock and to protect our environment from the consequences of fossil resources overuse.

Reference:

Huang, S.Q., Gong, B., Jin, Y.X., Sit, P.H.L., Lam, J.C.H. (2022). The Structural Phase Effect of MoS2 in Controlling the Reaction Selectivity between Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation and Dimerization of Furfural. ACS Catalysis, 12(18), 11340-11354. (impact factor 13.7)