Development of bimetallic Ru/Ni/SBA-16 catalysts for catalytic hydrogenation of bio-based furfural to 2-methylfuran and furfuryl alcohol
Sakthivel Kumaravel, A. Balakrishna, Jagadeesh Kumar Alagarasan, Moonyong Lee, Wahid Ali, Mohammad Ehtisham Khan, Syed Kashif Ali, Abdullateef H. Bashiri, Anwar Ulla Khan, B. Krishnakumar
Abstract
In this work, an efficient bimetallic catalyst was developed to serve as a key factor for the successful hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfural (FF) to the high-value-added chemicals, namely 2-methylfuran (2- MF) and furfuryl alcohol (FA). The bare SBA-16 (SB-16) and Rux/Niy/SBA-16 (RuxNiySB-16) catalysts with different weight percentages (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 0.9 wt% and y = 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, 0.2, 0.1 wt%) were prepared through an in situ hydrothermal method. Characterization using XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, EDS, XPS, Pyridine FT-IR, and HR-TEM analysis confirmed the chemical and physical properties of the catalyst. To investigate the catalytic hydrogenation of FF to 2-MF using 2-propanol (2-PrOH) over RuxNiySB-16 catalysts, various reaction parameters such as reaction temperature, time, catalyst loading, and alcohol ratio have been carried out. Among the catalysts tested, the Ru0.8Ni0.2SB-16 catalyst demonstrated outstanding performance under mild reaction conditions, achieving 100% conversion of furfural and an impressive selectivity of 88% towards 2-MF. The high selectivity of 2-MF can be attributed to the combined influence of metal and acid sites on the catalyst surface. Notably, the most active Ru0.8Ni0.2SB-16 catalyst stability was confirmed through five recycling tests, as there was no significant leaching of Ru and Ni. The Ru0.8Ni0.2SB-16 catalyst showed the highest stability based on the recycling test results. The excellent properties of these RuxNiySB-16 catalysts are suitable for various industrial applications, including furfural hydrogenation and other hydroconversion processes.