Biowaste-Derived Bimetallic Ru-MoOx Catalyst for the Direct Hydrogenation of Furfural to Tetrahydrofurfuryl Alcohol

A synergistic effect normally exists in bimetallic catalysts, which can greatly improve the catalytic performance in comparison with monometallic catalysts. However, the N-doped carbon-supported bimetallic catalysts, especially for noble based bimetallic catalysts prepared by one-pot pyrolysis at high temperatures are scarcely reported. Herein, a novel sustainable Ru-MoOx bimetallic catalyst was successfully prepared by one-pot pyrolysis of biowaste (chitin) and metal salts, which exhibited great improvement in catalytic activity and could be stable up to 5 cycles for the direct hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA). On the basis of series of catalyst characterizations, it was found that there was a strong interaction between Ru and MoOx particles, behaving as the main contributor to the enhanced catalytic performance.