In-Situ Formation of Ni-C-Al2O3 Catalyst from MOFs@Al2O3 Composite for Furfuryl Alcohol Hydrogenation to Tetrahydrofurfuryl Alcohol

Hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfuryl alcohol to widely used tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol is an important industrial route, which however calls for a more efficient catalyst. In this work, a highly selective and stable Ni-C-Al2O3 catalyst for furfuryl alcohol hydrogenation to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol is reported. The catalyst precursor is prepared by in-situ growth of Ni-based metal organic frameworks (Ni-BTC) on Al2O3 and then the precursor undergoes thermal decomposition to obtain the catalyst directly. For comparison, Ni-C/Al2O3 acquired from pyrolysis of physically mixed Ni-MOFs with Al2O3 and Ni/Al2O3 prepared by impregnation method are also tested as the hydrogenation catalysts. The prepared catalysts are characterized by a series of techniques, including XRD, FT-IR, TG, TEM, SEM, XPS and BET to reveal the relationship between the catalysts structure and their performance. The results show that small metal Ni particle size and appropriate interaction between Ni and the support, which benefit from the in-situ preparation method are key factors that ensure the high furfuryl alcohol conversion (99.8%) and high selectivity to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (98.2%) at moderate reaction conditions (120 °C, 30 min, 4 MPa H2).