Highly Dispersed CoNi Alloy Embedded in N-doped Graphitic Carbon for Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Biomass-derived Furfural

Graphical Efficient, stable, and low-cost N-doped graphitic carbon embedded CoNi bimetallic alloy nanocatalysts were developed for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfural to value-added furfuryl alcohol with isopropanol as hydrogen donor. The synergy enabled by bimetallic alloys and abundant N-based Lewis-base sites and surface Co−N active species were responsible for the excellent catalytic performance. The development of efficient, stable, and cost-effective heterogeneous catalysts for catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of biomass-derived furfural (FAL) is highly desired. Herein, series of N-doped graphitic carbon embedded CoNi bimetallic alloy nanoparticles were fabricated and used for the CTH of FAL to value-added furfuryl alcohol (FOL) with renewable isopropanol as hydrogen donor. Intrinsic catalytic activity examination indicated the catalytic performance of Ni x Co y @NGC (x:y=1 : 3, 1 : 1, 3 : 1) nanocatalysts were sensitive to their chemical compositions. The optimal Ni 1 Co 1 @NGC nanocatalyst with Ni/Co mole ratio of 1 : 1 afforded a largest FOL yield of 89.3% with nearly full conversion of FAL. The synergistic effect enabled by bimetallic alloys and the abundant N-based Lewis base sites and surface Co−N active species were revealed based on systematic structural characterization, responsible for the excellent catalytic efficiency of bimetallic Ni 1 Co 1 @NGC nanocatalyst for CTH of FAL.