(560e) Vapor-Phase Hydrotreating of Furfural over Ni-M/SiO2 Catalysts (M= Fe, Cu, Pt, Pd) for Propylene Production

Furfural can be mass-produced from lignocellulose biomass and can be a platform chemical for producing valuable chemicals. The propylene is one of the valuable chemicals, and it has a prospect from the furfural hydrotreating. In previous work, we examined 5wt% Ni/SiO₂ catalysts for the conversion of furfural under a hydrogen atmosphere. The propylene selectivity was governed by the higher temperatures (>225 ^oC) and edge sites of Ni. In this study, the Fe, Cu, Pt, and Pd (Ni: M= 5:1 in molar ratio) dope in the Ni/SiO₂ catalyst to change the Ni structure. The evaluation of catalytic performance is not only by reaction activity but also by coking analysis over these Ni-base catalysts. Finally, it concludes how the second metal changes the Ni structure and the optimized Ni-Pd/SiO₂ improves the reaction temperature to 175 ^oC for the best performance of propylene production in these catalysts, including Ni/SiO₂ and Pd/SiO₂ catalysts, too.