As an n-type semiconductor, In 2 O 3 is considered a promising photocatalyst for producing amino acids using biomass derivatives as precursors. However, similar to other intrinsic semiconductors, In 2 O 3 suffers from poor charge dynamics. Herein, we show the synthesis of Mo-doped In 2 O 3 (Mo-In 2 O 3 ) with a porous rod-shaped structure through a one-step solvothermal reaction followed by calcination. Under visible-light irradiation, Mo-In 2 O 3 achieves a high conversion rate of 81% for the reaction that transforms lactic acid into alanine with a selectivity of 91%. Spectroscopic techniques and density functional theory calculations reveal that Mo doping introduces defect states slightly below the conduction band of In 2 O 3 , which improves the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In addition, Mo atoms on the surface form extra adsorption and reaction centers that greatly enhance the reaction rate. This work provides insights into the development of transition metal-doped semiconductor photocatalysts to produce amino acids.
The catalytic transformation of furfuryl alcohol and hexose into value-added chemicals have been investigated with a series of polymer-based catalysts including poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PSS), graphite oxide-doped poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PSS-GO), and graphite-doped poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PSS-C). It is found that the selective conversion of furfuryl alcohol to methyl levulinate (MLE) was successfully performed with PSS as the catalyst, in which a 96.4% yield is attained in methanol solvent. Moreover, the efficient dehydration of d -fructose to produce 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has also been achieved using PSS-GO as the catalyst, where a 76.5% yield of HMF was obtained in N -methylpyrrodinone solvent. The effects of reaction temperature, time and solvent were investigated. Furthermore, the used catalysts have been respectively characterized by XRD, TG, FTIR, SEM and TEM techniques to reveal the physical properties and structures of these polymeric catalytic materials.
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