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Robust Co3O4 nanocatalysts supported on biomass-derived porous N-doped carbon toward low-pressure hydrogenation of furfural

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Abstract

The catalytic conversion of biomass platform chemicals using abundant non-noble metal nanocatalysts is a challenging topic. Here, high-density cobalt oxide nanoparticles loaded on biomass-derived porous N-doped carbon (NC) was fabricated by a tandem hydrothermal pyrolysis and mild nitrate decomposition process, which is a green and cheap preparation method. The Co3O4 nanoparticles with the average size of 12 nm were uniformly distributed on the porous NC. The nanocomposites also possessed large surface area, high N content, good dispersibility in isopropanol, and furfural absorbability. Due to these characteristics, the novel cobalt nanocatalyst exhibited high catalytic activity for producing furfuryl alcohol, yielding 98.7% of the conversion and 97.1% of the selectivity at 160 °C for 6 h under 1 bar H2. The control experiments implied that both direct hydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation pathways co-existed in the hydrogenation reaction. The excellent catalytic activity of Co3O4@NC was attributed to the cooperative effects of porous NC and Co3O4 nanoparticles. This approach provides a new idea to design effective high-density nonnoble metal oxide nanocatalysts for hydrogenation reactions, which can make full use of sustainable natural biomass.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (19212450-Y).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Lab for Textile Fiber Materials & Processing Technology (Zhejiang), Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Lin Zhang, Lanlan Cheng, Yechen Hu, Qingguang Xiao, Xiufang Chen & Wangyang Lu

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  1. Lin Zhang
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  2. Lanlan Cheng
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  3. Yechen Hu
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  4. Qingguang Xiao
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  5. Xiufang Chen
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Correspondence to Xiufang Chen.

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11706_2023_645_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Robust Co3O4 nanocatalysts supported on biomass-derived porous N-doped carbon toward low-pressure hydrogenation of furfural

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Zhang, L., Cheng, L., Hu, Y. et al. Robust Co3O4 nanocatalysts supported on biomass-derived porous N-doped carbon toward low-pressure hydrogenation of furfural. Front. Mater. Sci. 17, 230645 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-023-0645-9

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