Valorization of humins into furanyl functionalized biochar for selective hydrogenation of five-member rings of furan compounds

Abstract

Humins, an unavoidable by-product of the acid-catalyzed conversion of carbohydrates, significantly limits the yield of platform molecules and accounts for the majority of carbon loss in the biomass utilization processes. Therefore, the utilization and recovery of humins is highly importance to enhance the atom efficiency of biomass valorization. In this work, using potassium ferrate (K2FeO4) to realize synchronous carbonization and graphitization, humins obtained from the dehydration of fructose is transformed into a novel porous biochar material and further applied to prepare noble metal based hydrogenation catalysts. By tuning the carbonization temperature, we demonstrate biochar calcined at 600 °C has large mass specific surface area while retaining abundant furan groups in the framework. With the high density of furan groups in structure, the Pd/biochar catalysts enhances the preferential adsorption capability of furanyl functional groups, thereby promoting the hydrogenation rate of furan compounds and improving the hydrogenation selectivity of furan rings. The demonstration of this novel application of humins will not only enhance the carbon efficiency of biomass conversion processes but also provide functionalized materials for catalytic applications.