Selective production of ethylbenzene from lignin oil over FeOx modified Ru/Nb2O5 catalyst

Abstract

Lignin is the only large-volume source of aromatic chemicals and its valorization is of great importance. Herein, we designed an efficient FeOx modified Ru/Nb2O5 catalyst for the highly selective production of ethylbenzene from birch lignin oil (BLO) through the integration of dehydrogenative decarbonylation (DHDC) and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) processes. Compared with Ru/Nb2O5 catalyst, RuFe/Nb2O5 exhibited higher selectivity (or distribution) of ethylbenzene from both lignin model compound (78.5%) and BLO (63.4%). Various characterizations showed that the introduction of FeOx species decreased the ratio of metallic Ru0 species that restrained the direct hydrogenolysis of CpropanolO bonds and enhanced the DHDC process. Moreover, the modification of FeOx enhanced the oxygen vacancies on the surface of Nb2O5, thus promoting the cleavage of CaromaticO bonds. Both effects led to the highly selective production of ethylbenzene. Moreover, the rational design of RuFe/Nb2O5 catalyst provides a promising approach for the production of ethylbenzene from biomass resources.