Study On The Catalytic Performance Of Hydrotalcite-derived Copper-aluminum-based Metal Oxides In The Hydrogenation Of Furfural

As a pollution-free clean energy,biomass energy can effectively slow down the greenhouse effect and also help protect the ecological environment.How to rationally utilize biomass energy to deal with energy crisis is an urgent problem to be solved.Furfural(FAL)is an important platform compound derived from lignocellulose,which can be further processed into a variety of non-petroleum derived chemicals,involving daily chemicals,pharmaceuticals,pesticides and other fields.Furfuryl alcohol(FOL),as a product of the semi-hydrogenation of furfural,is also an important chemical substance,mainly used in the manufacture of resins and as an intermediate in the synthesis of flavors,vitamin C and lysine.Therefore,it is very meaningful to catalyze the selective hydrogenation of furfural to produce furfuryl alcohol.In this paper,a series of Cu_xCo_3-xAl O_y mixed metal oxide catalysts derived from Cu_xCo_3-xAl-LDHs(x=0.5,1.5,2.5)were used for the selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol.Among them,Cu_2.5Co_0.5Al O_y showed the best catalytic performance,reacting at 120 ^oC and 1.6 MPa hydrogen pressure for 1.5 h can obtain 100.0%furfural conversion and 99.0%furfuryl alcohol selectivity.Moreover,Cu_2.5Co_0.5Al O_y had good repeatability.Combining various characterization results,it can be found that the Cu O_xspecies on the Cu_xCo_3-xAl O_y catalyst surface can be reduced to Cu⁰ species in situ during the reaction process,which is the reason why this series of Cu_xCo_3-xAl O_y catalysts have hydrogenation activity without any pre-reduction treatment.A series of Cu_xNi_3-xAl O_y mixed metal oxide catalysts derived from Cu_xNi_3-xAl-LDHs(x=0.5,1,2)have been used for selective hydrogenation of furfural to verify whether other transition metal elements can play a similar role.Among them,Cu₂Ni₁Al O_yshowed the best catalytic performance,98.2%furfural conversion and 98.9%furfuryl alcohol selectivity could be obtained at 120 ^oC and 1.6 MPa for 1.5 h,and it also had good reusability.Various characterization results showed that the Cu O_x species on the Cu_xNi_3-xAl O_y catalyst surface can be reduced in situ during the reaction,and the Cu⁰ species obtained by in-situ reduction as the main adsorption site will promote the adsorption and transformation of furfural on the catalyst,thus improving the catalytic activity and selectivity of the catalyst.