TITLE:
Vapor Phase Decarbonylation of Furfural to Furan over Nickel Supported on SBA-15 Silica Catalysts
AUTHORS:
Diana Vargas-Hernández, Juan Miguel Rubio-Caballero, Ramon Moreno-Tost, Josefa María Mérida-Robles, José Santamaría-González, Antonio Jiménez-López, María Ana Pérez-Cruz, Rosario Hernández-Huesca, Pedro Maireles-Torres
KEYWORDS:
Ni-SBA-15, Furfural, Hydrogenation, Furan, Furfuryl Alcohol
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Research in Catalysis,
Vol.5 No.3,
July
15,
2016
ABSTRACT: Vapor-phase
transformations of furfural over SBA-15 silica supported Ni catalysts under H2 in a continuous-flow reactor at atmospheric pressure and 170°C and 230°C were
investigated. Two different samples having Ni loadings of 5 and 20 wt% (denoted
here by SBA-5Ni and SBA-20Ni, respectively) were prepared by impregnation and
characterized by atomic absorption spectroscopy, N2 sorption
analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission
electron microscopy. Furan and furfuryl alcohol were two primary products resulting,
respectively, from decarbonylation and hydrogenation of furfural. Under the
conditions of the study, both reactions exhibited structure sensitivity evidenced
by changes in product selectivities with variable Ni loadings. Compared with
SBA-20Ni, the 5 wt% Ni catalyst showed better catalytic activity, reaching a
furfural conversion of 100 mol% and a selectivity to furan of 98 mol%, after 5
h of time-on-stream at 230°C.