Development of bimetallic Ni-Cu/SiO2 catalysts for liquid phase selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

Bimetallic Ni-Cu/SiO2 catalysts with different Cu loading (2-5 wt%) were developed for liquid phase selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol. Among these, bimetallic 2%Ni-X%Cu/SiO2 (X = 2, 5) catalysts exhibited better catalytic performances than monometallic 2%Ni/Si0 2 and 2%Cu/SiO2. Moreover, the bimetallic 2%Ni-5%Cu/SiO2 catalyst showed the best catalytic performance with 94% of furfural conversion and 64% of furfuryl alcohol selectivity. The synergetic effect of NiCu alloy particles that are present on bimetallic Ni-Cu/SiO2 catalysts change the adsorption configuration of furfural on the catalyst surface resulting in high catalytic performance in liquid phase selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol.

Automated summary

By adjusting the Cu loading, bimetallic Ni-Cu/SiO2 catalysts showed excellent catalytic performance in the liquid phase selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol, with the 2%Ni-5%Cu/SiO2 catalyst exhibiting the best performance.