Catalytic upgrading of ethanol to butanol over a binary catalytic system of FeNiOx and LiOH

Abstract

Catalytic conversion of ethanol to butanol is vital to bridge the gap between huge amounts of ethanol production, the limited blending ratio of ethanol in gasoline, and the outstanding performance of butanol. In this work, a highly active binary catalytic system of FeNiOx and LiOH was developed for upgrading of ethanol to butanol. After 24 h reaction at 493 K, the selectivity to butanol reached 71% with >90% high carbon alcohols at 28% ethanol conversion, which was comparable to the performance of some noble metal homogeneous catalysts.