As one of the important value-added chemicals that has
wide applications,
the catalytic hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol has been a hot
topic in biomass upgrading. In order to support the prosperity of
the sorbitol industry, catalysts with superior activity, higher selectivity,
longer life, and lower cost are desirable. Herein, tremelliform graphene-like
carbon-encapsulated Ru catalysts (Ru/GLC) were synthesized from 4-nitrocatechol
by using solvent evaporation-induced self-assembly and KHCO3 chemical activation processes. The Ru/GLC materials were used for
the catalytic hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol, and the best Ru/GLC-600
sample prepared at a 600 °C activation temperature exhibited
both high glucose conversion of 100% and sorbitol yield of 96.8% at
140 °C and 3 MPa H2 in 120 min. The Ru/GLC-600 catalyst
exhibited excellent stability and durability that sorbitol yield could
be remained at 95.4% after recycling five runs. The catalyst was applicable
to concentrated glucose solutions (50 wt %) with 95.6% sorbitol yield.
Compared with previously reported catalysts, Ru/GLC catalyst had lower
apparent activation energy (E
a = 30.66
kJ/mol) and higher turnover frequency (TOF = 1680.6 h–1). This work provides a simple one-pot synthesis strategy for graphene-like
carbon materials for metal encapsulating, and the prepared materials
exhibited high catalytic activity and stability for glucose hydrogenation
to sorbitol.
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