High-performance Ag-CuOx nanocomposite catalyst galvanically deposited onto a Ni-foam for gas-phase dimethyl oxalate hydrogenation to methyl glycolate

Abstract

A foam-structured Ag-CuOx nanocomposite catalyst obtained by sequential galvanic-deposition of 0.4wt% Ag and 28wt% Cu onto a Ni-foam, is highly active, selective and stable for the gas-phase hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) to methyl glycolate (MG). The best catalyst 0.4-Ag-28-CuOx/Ni-foam was capable of converting more than 96% DMO into MG with a high selectivity of more than 96% and was stable for at least 200h at 210°C and a WLHSVDMO of 0.25h−1 for a feed of 13wt% DMO dissolved in MeOH. Silver is responsible to apportion the proportion of Cu+ and Cu0 to an appropriate scale of optimal potency for converting DMO-to-MG.