Vapour-Phase Selective Hydrogenation of γ-Valerolactone to 2-Methyltetrahydrofuran Biofuel over Silica-Supported Copper Catalysts

Ramyakrishna Pothu; Prathap Challa; Rajendiran Rajesh; Rajender Boddula; Ravi Balaga; Putrakumar Balla; Vijayanand Perugopu; Ahmed Bahgat Radwan; Aboubakr M Abdullah; Noora Al-Qahtani

doi:10.3390/nano12193414

Vapour-Phase Selective Hydrogenation of γ-Valerolactone to 2-Methyltetrahydrofuran Biofuel over Silica-Supported Copper Catalysts

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Sep 29;12(19):3414. doi: 10.3390/nano12193414.

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Electronics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
² Energy & Environmental Engineering Department, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, India.
³ Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar.

Abstract

2-Methyltetrahydrofuran (MTHF) is a desirable biomass-based platform chemical with excellent potential as an ideal biofuel, green solvent, and raw material for synthesizing downstream chemicals. In this work, a series of copper nanoparticles encapsulated on SiO₂ were prepared by the wet impregnation method and evaluated as efficient non-noble metal catalysts for the vapour-phase hydrogenation of γ-valerolactone (GVL) to MTHF in a fixed-bed reactor under mild reaction conditions. The obtained catalyst properties were determined by XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, UV-DRS, TPR, NH₃-TPD, N₂O decomposition and pore size distribution measurements. Meanwhile, the parameters/variables tuning their catalytic performance (activity, conversion, selectivity and stability) were examined. Various Cu loadings featured on the SiO₂ support are essential for tuning the catalytic activity. Among the catalysts tested, a 5 wt% Cu/SiO₂ catalyst showed a 97.2% MTHF selectivity with 71.9% GVL conversion, and showed a stability for 33 h time-on-stream, achieved at 260 °C and atmospheric pressure conditions. It was found that a huge dispersion of Cu metal in support, hydrogen activation ability, abundant acidic sites and surface area are all beneficial for improved MTHF selectivity.

Keywords: 2-methyltetrahydrofuran; biofuel; biomass; hydrogenation; selectivity; vapour-phase.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Qatar University through a National Capacity Building Program Grant (NCBP), [QUCP-CAM-2022-463]. Statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. Ramyakrishna Pothu acknowledges the China Scholarship Council (CSC) (Award number: 2017SLJ018367), China, for the financial support.