Catalytic Conversion of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone over Hierarchical AlPO4-5 Supported Nickel Catalysts

Abstract Catalytic conversion of biomass based platform chemicals to value added chemicals has attracted much attention recently. In this work, Ni-based catalysts were developed for the conversion of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone. By investigation of reduction behavior of NiO, it was found that a relatively low reduction temperature (300°C) can provide the reduction of NiO to Ni 0 . The high reduction temperature (500°C) generally applied in literature is not necessary. The effect of supports was also studied, and hierarchical AlPO 4 -5 (AlPO 4 -5-meso) supported Ni showed the best catalytic performance due to the proper pore size of AlPO 4 -5-meso, which contains both micropores and mesopores. The effect of Ni loading was also investigated, 10 wt % of Ni is enough for this reaction, which is lower than the reported amount of Ni loading. By using Ni/AlPO 4 -5-meso with 10 wt % Ni as catalyst, 84% γ-valerolactone yield and 100% levulinic acid conversion can be obtained after reaction for 10 h at 180°C.