Abstract
This work demonstrates the efficient hydrogenolysis of cellulose to C4-C7 alcohols and gas products (reaction 1) by coupling it with the reforming reaction of methanol (reaction 2) over bi-functional CuO-based catalysts. In this process, the CuO-based catalysts catalyze both the reactions 1 and 2, and the in situ regenerated H2 in the reaction 2 is used for the reaction 1. A series of CuO-MO/Al2O3 (M=Ce, Mg, Mn, Ni, Zn) catalysts were prepared by the co-precipitation method. Among these catalysts, CuO-ZnO/Al2O3 exhibited the highest activity to generate a high cellulose conversion of 88% and a high C4-C7 alcohols content above 95% in the liquid products. The CuO-ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was stable under the reaction conditions and reusable after 4 runs. This work provides a cost-effective route to convert abundant renewable cellulose to liquid fuels.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 311-317 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Bioresource Technology |
Volume | 137 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- C4-C7 alcohols
- Cellulose
- CuO-based bi-functional catalyst
- Hydrogenolysis
- Methanol