Catalytic conversion of cellulose to C5/C6 alkanes over Ir-VOx/SO2 combined with HZSM-5 in n-dodecane/water system

The liquid fuel (made of C 5 /C 6 alkanes) was obtained directly from the hydrogenolysis of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) with Ir-VO x /SiO 2 combined with HZSM-5 as the composite catalyst in a biphasic system (n-dodecane + H 2 O). The performance of the catalyst was investigated by carrying out a series of experiments using various V/Ir molar ratios , catalyst dosages, reaction temperatures, reaction time, hydrogen pressure and substrates. At the optimized conditions, the cellulose was almost completely converted, and at the same time, a high C 5 /C 6 yield of 85.1% was obtained at 210 °C for 24 h and 6 MPa with the V/Ir molar ratio being 0.13. These results not only proved that Ir-VO x /SiO 2 (V/Ir = 0.13) has excellent performance for the hydrogenolysis of MCC to liquid alkanes, but also indicated that vanadium is a good metal promoter for iridium . In addition, it was proven the C5/C6 alkanes were obtained via sorbitol through the combined effect of Ir-VO x /SiO 2 and HZSM-5.