Controlling the production of acid catalyzed products of furfural hydrogenation by Pd/TiO2

DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202101036

Authors: George F. Tierney (University of Southampton) , Shahram Alijani (Universita degli Studi di Milano) , Monik Panchal (University College London) , Donato Decarolis (Cardiff University) , Martha Briceno De Gutierrez (Johnson Matthey Technology Centre) , Khaled Mohammed (University of Southampton) , June Callison (Cardiff University) , Emma Gibson (University of Glasgow) , Paul Thompson (ESRF) , Paul Collier (Johnson Matthey Technology Centre) , Nikolaos Dimitratos (Universita di Bologna) , E. Crina Corbos (Johnson Matthey Technology Centre) , Frederic Pelletier (Johnson Matthey Technology Centre) , Alberto Villa (Universita degli Studi di Milano) , Peter Wells (University of Southampton)
Co-authored by industrial partner: Yes

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Chemcatchem

State: Published (Approved)
Published: October 2021

Abstract: We demonstrate a modified sol-immobilization procedure using (MeOH) x /(H 2 O) 1-x solvent mixtures to prepare Pd/TiO 2 catalysts that are able to reduce the formation of acid catalyzed products, e.g. ethers, for the hydrogenation of furfural. Transmission electron microscopy found a significant increase in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) deposition at the metal-support interface and temperature programmed reduction found a reduced uptake of hydrogen, compared to an established Pd/TiO 2 preparation. We propose that the additional PVA hinders hydrogen spillover onto the TiO 2 support and limits the formation of Brønsted acid sites, required to produce ethers. Elsewhere, the new preparation route was able to successfully anchor colloidal Pd to the TiO 2 surface, without the need for acidification. This work demonstrates the potential for minimizing process steps as well as optimizing catalyst selectivity – both important objectives for sustainable chemistry.

Diamond Keywords: Furfural hydrogenation; hydrogen spillover; palladium nanoparticles; sol-immobilization; X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Subject Areas: Chemistry

Diamond Offline Facilities: Electron Physical Sciences Imaging Centre (ePSIC)
Instruments: B18-Core EXAFS , E01-JEM ARM 200CF

Added On: 12/10/2021 10:08

Documents:
cctc.202101036.pdf

Discipline Tags:

Physical Chemistry Catalysis Chemistry

Technical Tags:

Microscopy Spectroscopy Electron Microscopy (EM) X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM)