Catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into chemicals and fuels

In the search of alternative resources to make commodity chemicals and transportation fuels for a low carbon future,lignocellulosic biomass with over 180-billion-ton annual production rate has been identified as a promising feedstock.This review focuses on the state-of-the-art catalytic transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into value-added chemicals and fuels.Following a brief introduction on the structure,major resources and pretreatment methods of lignocellulosic biomass,the catalytic conversion of three main components,i.e.,cellulose,hemicellulose and lignin,into various compounds are comprehensively discussed.Either in separate steps or in one-pot,cellulose and hemicellulose are hydrolyzed into sugars and upgraded into oxygen-containing chemicals such as 5-HMF,furfural,polyols,and organic acids,or even nitrogen-containing chemicals such as amino acids.On the other hand,lignin is first depolymerized into phenols,catechols,guaiacols,aldehydes and ketones,and then further transformed into hydrocarbon fuels,bioplastic precursors and bioactive compounds.The review then introduces the transformations of whole biomass via catalytic gasification,catalytic pyrolysis,as well as emerging strategies.Finally,opportunities,challenges and prospective of woody biomass valorization are highlighted.

Co@CoO:An efficient catalyst for the depolymerization and upgrading of lignocellulose to alkylcyclohexanols with cellulose intact

The depolymerization and upgrading of lignin from raw biomass,while keeping cellulose intact is important in biorefinery and various metal-based catalysts have been used in reductive catalytic fractionation,a key method in"lignin-first"strategy,Recently,we found that a core-shell structured Co@CoO catalyst with CoO shell as the real active site had excellent performance in the hydrogenolysis of 5-hydromethylfurfural to 2,5-dimethylfuran due to its unique ability to dissociate H_(2)and yield active H^(δ-)species(Xiang et al.,2022).In this work,we report a one-pot depolymerization and upgrading of lignocellulose to alkylcyclohexanols,a flavour precursor,with intact cellulose over this unique core-shell structured catalyst,Co@CoO.Lignin model compounds(β-O-4,4-O-5,α-O-4)were first used to clarify the activity of Co@CoO catalyst.Then,the one-pot conversion of various organosolv lignin(birch,pine and poplar)to alkylcyclohexanols was realized with the mass yield of alkylcyclohexanols up to25.8 wt%from birch lignin under the reaction condition of 210℃,1 MPa H_(2),16 h.Finally,the corresponding woody sawdusts were used as feedstocks and found that the Co@CoO catalyst indeed preferentially depolymerized and upgraded the lignin part and obtained the same alkylcyclohexanols products with the retention of cellulose-rich pulp.The collected alkylcyclohexanols were further esterified to obtain valueadded esters,which can be used as flavors.This work will inspire the design of new efficient metal oxide catalysts in lignin fractionation and depolymerization to high-value-added chemicals with intact cellulose.

High-yield production of 2,5-dimethylfuran from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural over carbon supported Ni–Co bimetallic catalyst

The catalytic conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) has attracted extensive research interests because DMF can be used as potential and competitive renewable transportation fuel or additives. Here we report a non-noble bimetallic catalyst with improved activity for hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis by introducing active carbon as support into a nickel–cobalt catalyst. The characterizations of the catalyst indicate that the Ni and Co species are uniformly dispersed on the active carbon through the wetness impregnation method. The influences of reaction temperature and hydrogen pressure are systematically investigated and an excellent yield (up to 95%) of DMF can be obtained at relatively mild conditions, 130?°C and 1?MPa H2, over the carbon supported Ni–Co bimetallic catalyst. The high catalytic activity originates from the synergistic effect between Ni and CoOxspecies, the high BET surface area of the catalyst, and the uniform dispersion of Ni and Co species on the active carbon. The catalyst could be reused for 5 times without loss of activity in a batch reactor. Futhermore, the conversion of HMF to DMF on a fixed-bed reactor was also investigated and the 2%Ni–20%Co/C catalyst exhibited an excellent yield to DMF (>90%) for 71?h time on stream, indicating the high activity and stability of the catalyst. ? 2016 Science Press

Synthesis of Ln-doped MCM-41 mesoporous materials and their catalytic performance in oxidation of styrene

Using cetyl-trimethyl-ammonium bromide （CTMAB） as the template agent and tetraethylorthosilicate （TEOS） as the silica source, the MCM-41 mesoporous materials were synthesized with La or Ce incorporated in the framework under hydrothermal conditions. The structure and the state of La or Ce were investigated through the analyses of XRD, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, FT-IR, and UV-Vis. XRD and N2 adsorption-desorption results showed that Ln-MCM-41 exhibited the loss of the lattice ordering of the MCM-41 construct, and larger unit cell parameter and pore diameter than pure silica MCM-41. The FT-IR and UV-Vis results indicated the presence of isolated tetra-coordinated La or Ce ions in the framework and other Ln species dispersed highly on the Ln-MCM-41 surface simultaneously. Furthermore, their catalytic behaviors in the oxidation of styrene were studied using H2O2 as the oxidant. The La-MCM-41 catalysts exhibited high reactivity and the reactivity increased with the increase of the La content in the La-MCM-41 samples. On the contrary, Ce-MCM-41 catalysts showed low reactivity in the oxidation of styrene and the conversion of styrene decreased with the increase of the Ce content in the Ce-MCM-41 samples.

Synthesis of cerium-doped MCM-48 molecular sieves and its catalytic performance for selective oxidation of cyclohexane

Cerium-doped MCM-48 molecular sieves were synthesized hydrothermally and characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, transmission electron microscope, FT-IR spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that all the samples held the structure of MCM-48, and Ce could enter the framework of MCM-48. However, when Ce/Si molar ratio in the sampies was high （0.04 or 0.059）, there were CeO2 crystallites as secondary phase in the extraframework of MCM-48. Ce-doped MCM-48 was a very efficient catalyst for the oxidation of cyclohexane in a solvent-free system with oxygen as an oxidant. In the conditions of 0.5 MPa 02 and 413 K for 5 h, the conversion of cyclohexane was 8.1% over Ce-MCM-48-0.02, the total selectivity of cyclohexanol and cyclohaxnone was 98.7%. With an increase of Ce content, the conversion of cyclohexane and the selectivity to cyclohexanol decreased somewhat, but the selectivity to cyclohexanone increased.

Effect of CeO_2 preparation method and Cu loading on CuO/CeO_2 catalysts for methane combustion

CeO2 was synthesized by sol-gel, hydrothermal, nitrate thermal decomposition methods, respectively, and used as support to prepare CuO/CeO2 catalysts. According to characterization and reaction results, preparation method of CeO2 had a great influence on the physicochemical properties and activities of CuO/CeO2 catalysts. CuO with high dispersion and strong interaction with CeO2 was highly active in methane combustion, while CuO particles less associated with CeO2 showed less activity. The CuO catalyst supported on CeO2 which was prepared via nitrate thermal decomposition method showed the largest area, the smallest particle size, the highest dispersion of copper species and strong support metal interactions. Therefore, it presented the highest redox ability and activity for methane combustion. Activities of the catalysts with different copper content kept increasing until 5% Cu loading and from then on kept constant. Moreover, methane conversion decreased as methane space velocities increased on CuO/CeO2 catalyst. Addition of CO2 to the feed did not produce a significant effect on the catalytic activity, but the presence of H2O provoked a remarkable decrease on the activity of CuO/CeO2 catalyst.

Effect of activated carbon support on CS_2 removal over coupling catalysts

Supported coupling catalysts for CS2 removal were prepared with different activated carbons originated from wood,coconut shell and coal as supports,and their catalytic activities for CS2 removal were tested at ambient temperature.The textural and surface properties of the activated carbons were characterized by nitrogen adsorption,temperature-programmed desorption（TPD）and Boehm titration.The activated carbon support with meso-and macropores,and oxygen-functional groups performs higher CS2 removal ability at ambient temperature.The effects of flow rate,CS2 inlet concentration,temperature and relative humidity on CS2 removal were also investigated.High efficient removal is obtained at temperature of 50-C,space velocity of 2000 h-1,inlet CS2 concentration of 500 mgS/m3 and relative humidity of 20%with the breakthrough sulfur capacity up to 4.3 gS/gCat and working sulfur capacity up to 7 gS/gCat.

Synthesis and characterization of mesostructured ceria-zirconia solid solution

Mesostructured Ce0.6Zr0.4O2 solid solutions were synthesized by coprecipitation combined with evaporation-induced self-assembly process. The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffractometer （XRD）, Raman, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, N2 sorption, and hydrogen temperature programmed reduction （H2-TPR）. The results showed that the solid solutions consisted of uniform nanocrystals, which piled homogeneous mesopores of about 4 nm. Furthermore, different surfactants had little influence on the mesoporous structures. All these samples exhibited high thermal stability.

COS hydrolysis in the presence of oxygen:Experiment and modeling

A mathematical model of COS hydrolysis on Al2O3, with fouling of catalyst, has been developed. Kinetic studies were carried out in a fixed bed reactor under atmospheric pressure and low temperature （40-70℃）. The effects of the COS inlet concentration, temperature, and relative humidity were analyzed. Experimental results of breakthrough curves were used to obtain kinetic parameters, which accounted for effects of S deposition on the inner-face of the catalyst. The model described the experimental breakthrough curves satisfactorily and well explained the performance of COS hydrolysis in the presence of oxygen. The exothermic heat of adsorption and activation energy, assuming Arrhenius type of temperature dependence of the equilibrium constant, were determined. Activation energy of COS hydrolysis and H2S oxidation were 35.9 kJ/mol, 19.6 kJ/mol; adsorption heat of H2O and H2S on Al2O3 were 45.1 and 60.1 kJ/mol respectively. Deactivation coefficient （α） was used to quantify the behavior of COS hydrolysis at different operating conditions. The effect of relative humidity on α is significant in the relative humidity range under study. Experimental data accorded well with model data in the studied range.

Effect of water on the performance of Pd-ZSM-5 catalysts for the combustion of methane

Palladium-based catalysts were prepared using impregnation （I） and ion-exchange method （E） with ZSM-5 as support. Pd-ZSM-5（I） and Pd-ZSM-5（E） catalysts presented the high activity for the combustion of methane. The order of activity was consistent with Brcnsted acidity of the catalysts： Pd-ZSM-5（I）〉Pd-ZSM-5（E）. It was shown by FT-IR that methane was adsorbed on the acidic bridging hydroxyl groups of ZSM-5-supported Pd catalysts. The effect of water on the activity of Pd-ZSM-5 was investigated. The inhibition effect of water on the conversion of methane was observed. However, water promoted the stability of Pd-ZSM-5 obviously during extended time periods. XPS measurement showed that Pd/Si ratio near the surface of Pd-ZSM-5（E） decreased more pronouncedly with time in dry stream than that of Pd-ZSM-5（I）, this is attributed to the dispersion of Pd into the micropores. The addition of water, however, retarded Pd dispersion. And high partial pressure of methane reduced this effect of water vapor. The decrease in activity during the stability test can be explained on the basis of the reduction of Pd/Si ratio.

Roles of Ceria on Base Metal Oxide Catalysts——NO+CO Reaction

A microreactor system was used to study the catalytic reaction of NO+CO→1/2 N_2+CO_2 over Cu,Fe, Mn,Cr,and Ce oxides supported on alumina,and the effect of adding Ce in supported Cu-M-O(M=Mn,Fe and Cr) catalysts on their catalytic activities for the topic reaction and the concentration of N_2O produced.It was found that the catalytic activity order of the single-element oxide is:CuO>Fe_2O_3≈Cr_2O_3> MnO_2>CeO_2>NiO.Cu-Mn-O is more active than CuO,and Cu-Fe-O is more active than Cu-Mn-O and Cu-Cr-O for NO+CO reaction.This study shows that the addition of Ce in supported Cu-M-O can promote their catalytic activities Jot the topic reaction,which makes the reaction of 2NO+CO→N_2O+CO_2 fast,and N_2O is an intermediate compound produced during NO+CO reaction.

Roles of Ceria on Copper and Manganese Oxides Catalyst——Adsorption of NO and CO

A microreactor system and TPD techniques were used to study the reaction kinetics of the CO+ NO reaction and the adsorption of CO,NO,CO_2 and N_2O over Cu-Mn-O(Ⅰ)and Cu-Mn-Ce-O(Ⅱ) catalysts.The results show that the catalytic activity of(Ⅱ)is higher than that of(Ⅰ)for the CO+NO reac- tion,and the higher the conversion of NO,the larger was the activity difference between(Ⅰ)and(Ⅱ).For (Ⅰ)the rate of NO elimination is dependent on the partial pressures of NO,CO,CO_2 with the kinetics or- ders of 0.48,0.56,0.08,respectively.The TPD study shows that the presence of Ce in(Ⅱ)may promote the adsorption of NO,CO on the surface,i.e.an increase of the coverage θ_(NO),θ_(CO),which result in a decrease of the hindrance of the reaction products.For CO_2 and N_2O the situation is in the opposite,the presence of Ce makes the θ_(CO)_2)and θ_(NO)on(Ⅱ)decrease,which weakens the inhibition of CO_2 for the reaction.

Effect of Preparation Method on Surface Area and Crystalline Form of CeO_2-ZrO_2 Solid Solution

The CeO_2-ZrO_2 solid solutions were prepared by a reverse microemulsion method. The effect of preparation parameters on the surface area and crystalline form of the solid solutions were studied by the BET surface area and XRD analysis. The studies indicate that the separation of the microemulsion phase during the preparation procedure can decrease the specific surface area of sample, adding hydrogen peroxide in the matrix solution can increase the specific surface area and stability of sample. The surface area of sample calcined at 550 ℃ for 5 h is 149 m^2·g^(-1), and that calcined at 900 ℃ for 6 h is 88 m^2·g^(-1). The sample with tetragonal symmetry Ce_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_2 phase has a higher stability.

Vicinal hydroxyl group-inspired selective oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid on hydroxyapatite supported Pd catalyst

Selective oxidation of glycerol provides a feasible route towards the sustainable synthesis of high value-added chemicals.Herein,the hydroxyapatite(HAP)supported palladium(Pd)species were fabricated by impregnation and subsequent calcination.The as-obtained heterogeneous Pd catalyst afforded not only excellent selectivity to glyceric acid(GLA)up to 90%with 59%conversion of glycerol but also good recyclability by using molecular oxygen as an oxidant under mild conditions.The characterization of catalysts indicated that both the surface basicity and Pd sites on the catalyst played a crucial role in promoting glycerol oxidation.Notably,it demonstrated that the presence of the vicinal hydroxyl group of glycerol molecule can assist the oxidation reaction via forming a coordination between the vicinal hydroxyl group and Ca^(2+) sites on HAP-derived catalysts.In this catalytic process,the secondary hydroxyl of glycerol kept untouched and the primary hydroxyl of glycerol was converted into carboxyl group,while the Pd species acted as active centers for cooperatively promoting the subsequent oxidation to generate GLA.Additionally,this catalytic system can be extended widely for the oxidative conversion of other vicinal diols into the corresponding a-hydroxycarboxylic acids selectively.Isotope labeling experiment using H_(2)^(18)O confirmed that H_(2)O not only acted as solvent but also was involved in the catalytic cycles.On the basis of the results,a possible reaction mechanism has been proposed.The HAP-supported Pd catalytic system has been shown to serve as an effective approach for the upgrading of bio-derived vicinal diols to high value-added chemicals.

Enhanced recycling performance of bimetallic Ir-Re/SiO_(2) catalyst by amberlyst-15 for glycerol hydrogenolysis

Recycling performance of heterogeneous catalysts is of crucial importance especially for a batch reaction system.In this work,we demonstrate a strategy for enhancing recycling performance of Ir-Re/SiO_(2) catalyst synergized with amberlyst-15 in glycerol hydrogenolysis to produce 1,3-propanediol.Comprehensive characterization results reveal that the Re sites in the Ir-Re/SiO_(2) catalyst undergo irreversible segregation and oxidation.These hinder the formation of active ReAOH species and thus contribute to a complete and irreversible deactivation.However,the introduction of amberlyst-15 into the reactant mixture can restrain the oxidation process of Re sites and favor the formation of ReAOH species,and thus significantly enhance the catalytic recycling performance.The results demonstrated here could guide the development of excellent bimetallic catalysts with the desirable recycling performances for the reaction.

Direct Conversion of Glucose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural over Zirconium Phosphate Catalyst in a Biphasic System

Efficient and selective production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(HMF) from glucose was achieved in the presence of zirconium phosphate(ZrPO) catalyst in a biphasic system.With the use of this catalyst,a high HMF yield of 56.8% was obtained from glucose in a water-tetrahydrofuran(THF) biphasic system.Characterization results showed that such catalyst had weak to strong acid sites and contained both Lewis and Br?nsted acid sites.The results of comparative experiments over some other solid acid catalysts demonstrated that the Lewis acid sites on the ZrPO catalyst played a crucial role in the isomerization of glucose to fructose and the Br?nsted ones were active in the dehydration of generated fructose to HMF.Moreover,less levulinic acid(LA) and formic acid(FA)(0.5%) were detected in the reaction solution,indicating that this ZrPO catalyst exhibited high selectivity towards the formation of HMF.Furthermore,the ZrPO catalyst was very stable and could maintain its activity after being used for six times.

Highly efficient cobalt-doped carbon nitride polymers for solvent-free selective oxidation of cyclohexane

Selective oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons with molecular oxygen has been of great interest in catalysis, and the development of highly efficient catalysts for this process is a crucial challenge. A new kind of heterogeneous catalyst, cobalt-doped carbon nitride polymer(g-C_3N_4),was harnessed for the selective oxidation of cyclohexane. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra and high resolution transmission electron microscope revealed that Co species were highly dispersed in g-C_3N_4 matrix and the characteristic structure of polymeric g-C_3N_4 can be retained after Co-doping, although Co-doping caused the incomplete polymerization to some extent. Ultraviolet-visible, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy further proved the successful Co doping in g-C_3N_4 matrix as the form of Co(Ⅱ)-N bonds. For the selective oxidation of cyclohexane, Co-doping can markedly promote the catalytic performance of g-C_3N_4 catalyst due to the synergistic effect of Co species and gC_3N_4 hybrid. Furthermore, the content of Co largely affected the activity of Co-doped g-C_3N_4 catalysts, among which the catalyst with 9.0 wt%Co content exhibited the highest yield(9.0%) of cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol, as well as a high stability. Meanwhile, the reaction mechanism over Co-doped g-C_3N_4 catalysts was elaborated.

CuSx-mediated two reaction systems enable biomimetic photocatalysis in CO_(2) reduction with visible light

The performances of heterogeneous catalysts can be effectively improved by optimizing the catalysts via appropriate structure design.Herein,we show that the catalysis of cuprous sulfide can be boosted by constructing the hybrid structure with Cu_(2)S nanoparticles on amorphous CuSx matrix(Cu_(2)S/CuSx).In the photocatalytic CO_(2) reduction under visible light irradiation,the Cu_(2)S/CuSx exhibited a CO production rate at 4.0μmol h-1 that is 12-fold higher than that of the general Cu_(2)S catalyst.Further characterizations reveal that the Cu_(2)S/CuSx has two reaction systems that realize the biomimetic catalysis,involving in the light reaction on the Cu_(2)S nanoparticle-CuSx matrix heterojunctions for proton/electron production,and the dark reaction on the defect-rich CuSx for CO_(2) reduction.The CuSx matrix could efficiently activate CO_(2) and stabilize the split hydrogen species to hinder undesired hydrogen evolution reaction,which benefits the proton-electron transfer to reduce CO_(2),a key step for bridging the two reaction systems.

Study on Aldol Condensation of HCHO and CH_3CHO over MgO Catalysts Modified by Lanthanum and Cerium

Aldol condensation of HCHO and CH_3CHO over MgO, modified MgO and Al_2O_3 with rare earth oxides, was studied. The measurement of adsorption of pyrrole on catalysts by in-situ FT-IR and NH_3 TPD indicated that the addition of elements La or Ce into MgO increased the acidity of the solid. In-situ FT-IR showed that the activation of-C=O in HCHO adsorbed on CeO-MgO and La_2O_3-MgO occurred. The measurement of catalytic activity implied that the modified catalysts can promote the formation of pentaerythritol, dipentaerthritol and tripentaerythritol.