Hollow Mesoporous Nanoreactors with Encaged PtSn Alloy Nanoparticles for Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

Abstract

Hollow mesoporous nanoreactors with encaged functional nanoparticles are promising heterogeneous catalysts due to the advantages related to their hollow cavities. In this study, we employ metal ion-bound polymer micelles to synthesize PtSn alloy nanoparticle-encaged hollow mesoporous nanoreactors (PtSn@HMSNs), which contain ∼4 nm PtSn alloy NPs located in ∼13 nm hollow cavities and relatively large (∼9 nm) mesoporous channels in silica shells. Relative to monometallic Pt@HMSNs and supported Pt 1 Sn 0.3 /SiO 2 , Pt 1 Sn 0.3 @HMSNs exhibit greatly enhanced activity and selectivity for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol. At 1.0 MPa H 2 , 100 °C, and a furfural/Pt molar ratio of 1884:1, 97.5% of furfuryl alcohol yield was achieved in 5.0 h. The dramatically promoted catalytic performance of Pt 1 Sn 0.3 @HMSNs can be assigned to the confinement effect that the location of active NPs inside hollow cavities increases the collision rates between reactants and active NPs to promote catalytic activity, as well as the synergistic effect between Pt and Sn.

Biocatalytic Furfuryl Alcohol Production with Ethanol as the Terminal Reductant Using a Single Enzyme

“…The selective hydrogenation of the CO over CC in the furan ring is challenging. The latter is thermodynamically favorable, leading to unwanted side reactions and low selectivity . Heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts based on several transition metals like Ni, Pt, and Pd, ,, and Ru and Rh-based water-soluble complexes, , have been well studied in pursuit of alternatives to Cu–Cr catalysts.…”

Recent advances in the conversion of furfural into bio-chemicals through chemo- and bio-catalysis

“… 87,88 Halilu et al synthesized low-cost, recyclable Fe(NiFe)O 4 –SiO 2 for the hydrogenation of furfural, which resulted in 93% FOL yield in heptane solvent. 89 In addition, some durable, efficient catalysts such as Cu–Fe oxides, 95 Ni–Fe alloys, 96,97 and PtSn alloy 94 have also been employed in the hydrogenation of furfural to produce FOL in recent years. It is highly desirable to design and develop cheap, robust, efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of furfural, but noble metal catalysts should not be the first choice because they are expensive and increasingly exhausted.…”

Selective Hydrogenation of the Carbonyls in Furfural and 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Catalyzed by PtNi Alloy Supported on SBA-15 in Aqueous Solution Under Mild Conditions

“…For example, Wu et al (2021) reported that PtNi hollow nanoframes could catalyze the FF hydrogenation with 99% yield of FFA in isopropanol within 12 h at 373 K under 2 MPa H 2 . Xiao et al (2021) reported that Pt 1 Sn 0.3 @HMSNs could yield 97% FFA in isopropanol within 5 h at 373 K under 1 MPa H 2 . However, these efficient catalytic systems need organic solvents as reaction medium, causing harm to environment, and limiting the hydrogenation application.…”

“…However, monometallic catalyst with relatively high metal loading always accompanied with low metal dispersion, consequently resulting in the slow reaction rate, high reaction temperature and poor selectivity to FFA/DHMF. In order to improve the catalytic performance of monometallic catalysts, the bimetallic nanoalloys have been widely studied and attracted more attention in the last decades (Fang et al, 2018;Xie et al, 2020;Xiao et al, 2021). The bimetallic nanoalloys are significantly different from the two bulk metals and take on intrinsic features, including tunable components and ratios, variable constructions, reconfigurable electronic structures, and optimizable performances.…”