Recent progress of the transition metal-based catalysts in the catalytic biomass gasification: A mini-review

Abstract

Biomass is regarded as an important renewable resource, which plays a critical role in the development of sustainable energy systems. Biomass can be converted into energy or valuable chemicals by combustion, liquefaction, pyrolysis, and gasification. Among these processes, thermal gasification cracks biomass into light species at high temperatures, which can be applied to biomass with the greatest variety. As the target product of biomass gasification, syngas or H2-rich gas are very important intermediates in the petrochemical industry. However, the troublesome tar produced during gasification could bring a series of problems. Catalytic biomass gasification is a promising strategy to greatly alleviate these issues. The transition metal-based catalysts for catalytic biomass gasification have been studied in the last decades. Various transition metal catalysts for biomass gasification are reviewed in this article, including monometallic and bimetallic Ni-based catalysts, and other Fe-, Co-, and Pt-based catalysts. The performance of these catalysts is evaluated based on applied reaction parameters, the quality of produced syngas, and the performance of tar reduction. The applications of DFT calculation and AI for mechanism studies of biomass gasification have been summarized, and the cause of catalyst deactivation and regeneration of spent catalysts are also discussed. Therefore, the target of this article is to elucidate conventional biomass conversion pathways and review the recent progress on catalyst development in the biomass gasification process.