Selective Cellulose Hydrogenolysis to Ethanol Using Ni@C Combined with Phosphoric Acid Catalysts

Graphical Cellulose conversion into ethanol : Ethanol is obtained through one-pot cellulose hydrogenolysis over graphene-layers-encapsulated nickel catalysts with the aid of H 3 PO 4 in water. This work, for the first time, demonstrates a chemocatalytic approach for a high-yield production of ethanol from biomass using a non-noble metal catalyst. Ethanol is an important bulk chemical with diverse applications. Biomass-derived ethanol is traditionally produced by fermentation. Direct cellulose conversion to ethanol by chemocatalysis is particularly promising but remains a great challenge. Herein, a one-pot hydrogenolysis of cellulose into ethanol was developed by using graphene-layers-encapsulated nickel (Ni@C) catalysts with the aid of H 3 PO 4 in water. The cellulose was hydrolyzed into glucose, which was activated by forming cyclic di-ester bonds between the OH groups of H 3 PO 4 and glucose, promoting ethanol formation under the synergistic hydrogenation of Ni@C. A 69.1 % yield of ethanol (carbon mole basis) was obtained, which is comparable to the theoretical value achieved by glucose fermentation. An ethanol concentration of up to 8.9 wt % was obtained at an increased cellulose concentration. This work demonstrates a chemocatalytic approach for the high-yield production of ethanol from renewable cellulosic biomass at high concentration.