Palladium-modified zirconium dioxide as a selective catalyst for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

Abstract

The hydrogenation reaction can effectively promote the upgrading of biomass-derived resources into high value-added products. Currently, constructing metal Pd-based catalysts is one of the effective strategies to promote hydrogenation reactions. In this paper, Pd-ZrO2 catalyst was prepared through electrospinning technology using PdCl2-Zr(acac)4/PVP as a precursor for furfural hydrogenation reaction. The results revealed that the obtained Pd-ZrO2 catalyst could provide 70 % furfural conversion and 76.2 % furfuryl alcohol selectivity at 170 ℃ and 2 MPa 5 % H2/Ar for 12 h. At the same time, nearly complete FAL conversion with 92.9 % FOL selectivity could be achieved under 2 MPa N2 for 12 h in the process of catalytic transfer hydrogenation. In addition, the effects of conditions such as reaction temperature, reaction time, and solvent on the two hydrogenation paths were further evaluated. The cycle test proved that the catalyst can be recycled multiple times without significant decrease in catalytic activity.