Abstract
A series of Ni/SBA-15 catalysts were prepared by impregnation method for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to γ-valerolactone in a fixed bed reactor at atmospheric pressure. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, TPR, AAS, Pulse chemisorption, SEM-EDAX, TEM, BET Surface area and XPS. The catalyst 30 wt% Ni/SBA-15 exhibited excellent catalytic performance (97% yield) at 250 °C due to the presence of superior number of active surface Ni species. While 30 wt% Ni/SiO2 catalyst showed lower catalytic activity (87% yield) at about similar conversion. The co-feeding of formic acid (FA) and water (impurities) with levulinic acid was also evaluated over 30 wt% Ni/SBA-15 which yielded excellent levulinic acid conversion. The noteworthy results were obtained at a molar ratio of FA/LA = 5. The constant catalytic activity during 10 h experiment with an external H2 flow has showed the sturdiness of the Ni/SBA-15 catalyst. On the other hand, a slight decrease in conversion as well as yield during the time-on-stream in the absence of external H2 flow was attributed to the accumulation of carbon species on the catalyst surface.
Highlights
The adverse climate change symptoms need immediate alleviation measures
In continuation to our ongoing research towards the development of Ni-based catalysts for the hydrogenation of biomass-derived platform molecules such as levulinic acid with or without external H2 source, a series of Ni/SBA-15 catalysts were examined for this reaction
As we have mentioned earlier, this catalytic system is suitable for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid with formic acid as a H 2 source.we evaluated the influence of the molar ratio of levulinic acid with formic acid
Summary
The adverse climate change symptoms need immediate alleviation measures. Excessive exploitation of non-renewable sources of energy and environment unfriendly practices (fossil fuels) need to be curtailed to address the issues of energy security nationally and globally. Among the SiO2-based supports, ordered mesoporous silica materials such as SBA15 are unique, owing to their remarkable properties such as high surface area (> 700 m2/g), thermal stability, and uniform pore size (46–300 Å).
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