Spillover Hydrogen on Electron-Rich Ni/m-TiO2 for Hydrogenation of Furfural to Tetrahydrofurfuryl Alcohol

摘要

Conversion of biomass-derived furfural (FFA) platform molecule to value-added tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) molecule is a sustainable route using an efficient non-noble metallic catalyst in water solvent. In this work, Ni in various loadings on mesoporous titanium dioxide (m-TiO2) was synthesized in one pot by Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA). The synthesised catalysts were evaluated for the hydrogenation of furfural to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol. The catalysts were characterised using a combination of spectroscopic techniques such as XRD, H-2-TPR, H-2-TPD, XPS, SEM-EDX, TEM, and HR-TEM. The characterization results show that the Ni/m-TiO2 materials exhibit enhanced electron-rich active sites, facilitated hydrogen spillover, uniform dispersion of small Ni particles (similar to 5 nm), and strong metal support interaction between Ni and TiO2. Among the various Ni dopings, 7.5 wt. Ni/m-TiO2 catalyst exhibited the best performance and achieved 99.9 FFA conversion and 93.2 THFA selectivity in water solvent at 100 degrees C and under 2 MPa H-2. Additionally, detailed kinetic studies, process parameters, the stability and reusability of the catalyst were also studied. The results demonstrated that the 7.5 wt. Ni/m-TiO2 catalyst is highly active and stable.