New Approach to Dehydration of Xylose to 2-Furfuraldehyde Using a Mesoporous Niobium-Based Catalyst
José Balena Gabriel Filho, Victor Leone de Oliveira, Talita E. Souza, Izabela D. Padula, Luiz C.A. Oliveira, Leandro Vinícius Alves Gurgel, Bruno Eduardo Lôbo Baêta, Adilson C. Silva
Abstract
Furfural chemistry is one of the most promising platforms directly derived from lignocellulose biomass. In this study, a niobium-based catalyst (mNb-bc) was synthesized by a new fast and simple method. This new method uses microemulsion to obtain a catalyst with a high specific surface area (340 m2 g–1), defined mesoporosity, and high acidity (65 μmol g–1). Scanning electron microscopy revealed that mNb-bc has a rough surface. The mNb-bc was used to catalyze the conversion reaction of xylose into 2-furfuraldehyde in a monophasic system using water as a green solvent. This reaction was investigated using a 23 experimental design by varying the temperature, time, and catalyst-to-xylose ratio (CXR). The responses evaluated were xylose conversion (Xc), reaction yield (Y), and selectivity to 2-furfuraldehyde (S). The optimized reaction conditions were used to evaluate the reaction kinetics. At milder reaction conditions of 140 °C, 2 h, and a CXR of 10%, mNb-bc led to an Xc value of 41.2%, an S value of 77.1%, and a Y value of 31.8%.