Upgrading Ethanol to Higher Alcohols via Biomass-Derived Ni/Bio-Apatite
Machen Xue, Bolun Yang, Chungu Xia, Gangli Zhu
Abstract
Acquiring value-added chemicals from renewable ethanol instead of fossil resources has special significance under the background of carbon neutrality. In this work, a heterogeneous recyclable biomass-derived Ni/bio-apatite catalyst was developed for upgrading ethanol to higher alcohols (C6+-OH). Catalysts were prepared employing calcined porous natural bone and analyzed by various characterizations of thermogravimetric analysis–differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H2-temperature-programmed reduction, and CO2-temperature-programmed desorption. The ethanol upgrading reaction can be achieved in the liquid phase without alkali additives, ligands, and extra hydrogen. The selectivity for C6+-OH reached as high as 67.7% at the single pass 55.6% ethanol conversion, substantially higher than the Anderson–Schulz–Flory distribution. Research shows that the porous structure and coordination between metal and alkaline sites could play key roles in C6+-OH selectivity. The catalyst recycles and reaction pathway of ethanol upgrading to higher alcohols were also discussed.