Vapor-Phase Furfural Decarbonylation over a High-Performance Catalyst of 1%Pt/SBA-15

• Main Authors: Qiang Yuan, Jifeng Pang, Wenguang Yu, Mingyuan Zheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Catalysts
• Subjects: decarbonylation; furfural; furan; platinum; SBA-15
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/10/11/1304

A high-performance Pt catalyst supported on SBA-15 was developed for furfural decarbonylation. Compared to Pt catalysts loaded on microporous DeAl-Hbeta zeolite and hierarchical micro-mesoporous MFI nanosheet (NS) materials, the 1%Pt/SBA-15 catalyst afforded notably higher activity, furan selectivity and stability owing to the negligible acid sites and proper mesopores on the SBA-15 support. Among a set of 1%Pt/SBA-15 catalysts bearing Pt nanoparticles (NPs) with sizes of 2.4–4.3 nm, the catalyst with 3.7 nm Pt NPs afforded the highest furan selectivity. Over the optimal catalyst, 88.6% furan selectivity and ca. 90% furfural conversion were obtained at 573 K and a high weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 16.5 h⁻¹. Moreover, the reaction temperatures at 440–573 K and the ratios of H₂ to furfural at 0.79–9.44 did not affect the reaction selectivity notably, showing that the reaction over 1%Pt/SBA-15 can be conducted over a wide range of conditions. The catalyst was stable under the harsh reaction conditions and lasted for 90 h without significant deactivation, demonstrating the superior property of SBA-15 as a catalyst support for furfural decarbonylation.