Effect of Cu loading on the structure and catalytic properties of Cu/SBA-15 for the hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

A series of Cu/SBA-15 catalysts with different Cu loadings are prepared by the ammonia evaporation method for the liquid-phase hydrogenation of furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FA). The results show that the supported Cu loading influences the structure and catalytic activity during FF hydrogenation. The 20Cu/SBA-15 catalyst shows the optimum performance with 99.3 % FF conversion, 99.0 % selectivity to FA, nearly pure FA product, and a turnover frequency reaching up to 81.7h −1 . The effect of Cu loading can be related to Cu dispersion and the interaction between the metal and support, which further promotes the surface Cu + /Cu 0 ratio. Additionally, the correlation of FF conversion with Cu + /Cu 0 ratio confirms that the excellent performance of 20Cu/SBA-15 is mainly derived from the synergy of Cu + and Cu 0 species, although the range of performance is not large. Finally, the optimal reaction conditions are screened using a reaction temperature of 150 °C, a reaction pressure of 4 MPa, a catalyst dosage of 0.1 g, and a reaction time of 60 min. The present study confirms that the Cu loading has a significant effect on the structure of Cu/SBA-15 and nearly pure objective FF product can be feasibly obtained with an appropriate Cu support in the synthesis of FA from FF hydrogenation.