In Situ Synthesis of Cu Nanoparticles on Carbon for Highly Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol by Using Pomelo Peel as the Carbon Source

Abstract

A facile approach was developed to directly synthesize carbon-supported metal nanoparticles with pomelo peel as the carbon source and metal nitrate solution as the metal source. Fe/C, Co/C, Ni/ C, and Cu/C catalysts were prepared after calcination in N 2 without further reduction. The metal nanoparticles and formation mechanism were investigated by multiple techniques such as XRD, HRTEM, XPS, FTIR spectra, SEM, and TG-MS thermal analysis. In the case of furfural hydrogenation, Cu/C catalyst exhibited the best activity and exclusive selectivity to produce furfuryl alcohol with complete conversion, and excellent selectivity can be maintained at a higher temperature of 240 °C. The particle size of Cu nanoparticles can be tuned by the calcination temperature and metal loading for improving catalytic activity. The excellent performance of Cu nanoparticles was also studied by density functional theory calculation, agreeing well with the experiments.

Effects of particle sizes on structural and physicochemical properties of pomelo peel powders

“…The weak peaks at 1,440 and 1,243 cm −1 were related to –CH 3 stretching, and the –C–O– stretching vibration presence of carboxyl acids, respectively. The peak at 1,054 cm −1 was assigned to C–O vibrations in alcohol (R–OH) groups (Akinhanmi et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). There was no significant difference in the peaks of P1, P2, and P3, indicating the same functional groups were present in pomelo peel powders with different particle sizes.…”

Recent advances in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol over heterogeneous catalysts

“…Wang et al synthesized a 2-Cu/C-400 catalyst via the calcination of pomelo peel (a carbon source) with copper( ii ) nitrate trihydrate under N 2 ; the catalyst affording 99.6% FF conversion and 99.3% FFA selectivity with a reaction efficiency of 10.22 h −1 in isopropanol at 443 K and 2 MPa H 2 for 3 hours. 63 Putrakumar et al fabricated Cu-hydroxyapatite (HAp) catalysts via a facile impregnation method for the CTH of bio-derived FF. 64 5CuHAp (5 wt% Cu loading) exhibited the best catalytic performance because of its large active Cu surface area (210 m 2 g −1 ), highly dispersed copper particles, and higher basicity, giving >99% FFA selectivity at 96% FF conversion using isopropanol as the hydrogen donor at 413 K and 2 MPa N 2 for 4 hours.…”

Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural: Pure Silica Supported Metal Catalysts

“…Catalytic activity for hydrogenation of furfural is related to surface acidity, [37] the oxide support, reaction solvent, reaction temperature, [35] the interaction of metal with the support, the particle size of metal nanoparticles (tuned by metal loading and the calcination temperature to improve catalytic activity), [44] etc. Recently, research studies on selective hydrogenation of furfural include the role of catalysts at molecular level in the hydrogenation process of gas or liquid phase, [45] chemical routes for converting furfural to high value-added chemicals, [46] and particle size effects and regulation strategies.…”