2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a potential biopolymer
precursor
for polyethylene furanoate production. This study focused on synthesizing
FDCA via catalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) over
Ru-based catalysts supported on exfoliated MgAl-double oxides (LDO)
for the first time in a homogeneous base-free system. Effects of the
exfoliation solvent, preparation method, and Ru loading level on the
physicochemical and catalytic properties of the resulting catalysts
were investigated. The exfoliated LDO-supported Ru catalysts exhibited
enhanced textural properties, RuO
x
dispersion,
and basicity, resulting in better catalytic activity (at least 6 times
higher FDCA yield) than conventional LDO-supported Ru catalysts in
the conversion into FDCA. The Ru-based catalyst supported on an exfoliated
LDO/carbon nanocomposite, Ru(3)/ESV-LDC, revealed the nearly complete
HMF conversion (99.2%) at an FDCA selectivity of >98%. This was
attributed
to the synergistic effect derived from good RuO
x
dispersion, providing a high proportion of lattice oxygen
for boosting surface oxygen mobility, and high basicity, in terms
of both strength and number of basic sites. Moreover, Ru(3)/ESV-LDC
exhibited good reusability without a significant loss of HMF conversion
and FDCA yield, suggesting strong chemical robustness of RuO
x
species and a stable interaction between the active
metal and support.