Which is better for converting furfural into furfuryl alcohol: The strong metal-support interaction effect or the formation of alloy?

Abstract

Furfural, one of biomass raw materials, can be seen as a clean alternative energy to fossil energy. Cu-based catalysts have been studied mostly due to the excellent selectivity to furfuryl alcohol. While keeping the stability of Cu-based catalysts under high temperature is still a challenge. Thus, a more active and stable Ni-based catalyst is researched. While the high yield of furfuryl alcohol was difficult to obtained over Ni catalysts. A catalyst (5 % Ni/Ce0.9Sn0.1O2) that combines stability and selectivity was prepared with enhanced activity which was different with the NiSn alloy. Combined with the characterizations of XRD, XPS, TEM, CO-TPD and H2-TPR, it has been proven that the enhanced strong interaction between Ni and Ce0.9Sn0.1O2 is much more effective in forming furfuryl alcohol than the effect of the Ni3Sn4 alloy.