Facile assembly of Cu-Cu2O/N-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for efficient synthesis of 2-methylfuran

Abstract The hydrodeoxygenation of furfural to 2-methylfuran is of great significance for biomass valorization. However, the design of efficient catalysts based on non-noble metals is still a huge challenge for this transformation. In this work, a uniformly dispersed Cu-Cu2O/N-RGO nanocomposite was assembled via microwave assisted reduction and ammonia evaporation synthetic strategy. Under the optimum conditions, the yield of 2-methylfuran reached 95.5%, and there was no catalyst deactivation was observed within 5 cycles. The characterization results confirmed that the activity of the catalyst was mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of surface Cu0 and Cu+ species in catalyst, which were originated from partial reduction of CuO species due to the strong interaction between Cu precursors and support. Furthermore, this strong interaction also promised stability of the catalyst which could immobilize copper particles to resist leaching.