Encapsulation of CuO nanoparticles within silicalite-1 as a regenerative catalyst for transfer hydrogenation of furfural
Mingwei Weng,
Zihao Zhang,
Francis Okejiri,
Yue Yan,
Yubing Lu,
Jinshu Tian,
Xiuyang Lu,
Siyu Yao,
Jie Fu
Affiliations
Mingwei Weng
Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; Institute of Zhejiang University - Quzhou, 78 Jiuhua Boulevard North, Quzhou 324000, China
Zihao Zhang
Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Francis Okejiri
Department of Chemistry, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Yue Yan
Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Yubing Lu
Department of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Jinshu Tian
State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China
Xiuyang Lu
Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Siyu Yao
Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; Corresponding author
Jie Fu
Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; Institute of Zhejiang University - Quzhou, 78 Jiuhua Boulevard North, Quzhou 324000, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of biomass-derived furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol is recognized as one of the most versatile techniques for biomass valorization. However, the irreversible sintering of metal sites under the high-temperature reaction or during the coke removal regeneration process poses a serious concern. Herein, we present a silicalite-1-confined ultrasmall CuO structure (CuO@silicalite-1) and then compared its catalytic efficiency against conventional surface-supported CuO structure (CuO/silicalite-1) toward CTF of FAL with alcohols. Characterization results revealed that CuO nanoparticles encapsulated within the silicalite-1 matrix are ∼1.3 nm in size in CuO@silicalite-1, exhibiting better dispersion as compared to that in the CuO/silicalite-1. The CuO@silicalite-1, as a result, exhibited nearly 100-fold higher Cu-mass-based activity than the CuO/silicalite-1 counterpart. More importantly, the activity of the CuO@silicalite-1 catalyst can be regenerated via facile calcination to remove the surface-bound carbon deposits, unlike the CuO/silicalite-1 that suffered severe deactivation after use and cannot be effectively regenerated.
