Synthesis of Cu1Mg3Sc2(OH)12CO3 layered double hydroxide and its derived catalyst for hydrogenation of DMCD to CHDM

The synthesis and fabrication of new layered double hydroxide (LDH) materials are of great importance because of their versatility in catalysis, biosensors, supercapacitors, drug delivery and adsorption. In this work, Cu1Mg3Sc2(OH)12CO3 LDH and its derived Cu1/Mg3Sc2O6 catalyst with Sc3+ as the trivalent ion were synthesized for the first time. The composition and fine structure of Cu1Mg3Sc2(OH)12CO3 LDH and Cu1/Mg3Sc2O6 catalysts were characterized in detail. It was found that Cu1Mg3Sc2(OH)12CO3 LDH possesses larger cell parameters a (0.3170 nm) and c (2.3073 nm) than Cu1Mg3Al2(OH)12CO3. And the final Cu1/Mg3Sc2O6 catalyst possesses an enlarged surface area (260.8 m2 g−1), enhanced basicity (550 μmol g−1) and weaken acidity compared with those of Cu1/Mg3Al2O6. Finally, the Cu1/Mg3Sc2O6 catalyst was tested in the hydrogenation of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) derived dimethyl 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate (DMCD) to 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM). It was found that the Cu1/Mg3Sc2O6 catalyst was highly active and selective for the conversion of DMCD to CHDM with 96.3% yield under mild conditions (250 °C, 2 MPa and WHSVDMCD = 0.49 h−1). And it can retain its performance for 300 h.