One-Pot Ethanol Production from Cellulose Transformation over Multifunctional Pt/WOx and Hollow Pt@HZSM-5 Catalysts

The one-step conversion of cellulose to ethanol is particularly attractive but extremely challenging. Herein, we reported a multifunctional catalyst composed of Pt/WOx and hollow Pt@HZSM-5 for an efficient one-pot conversion of cellulose to ethanol with a high yield of 54.4 C mol %. In this study, the WOx catalyst mainly promoted the cleavage of C-C bonds for the hydrogenolysis of cellulose to glucose and intermediate glycolaldehyde, then quickly transferred to the Pt active sites to produce ethylene glycol (EG), followed by the dehydration of EG to ethanol over the acid sites of hollow HZSM-5 as well as WOx species. Specifically, the Pt nanoparticles encapsulated in the cavity of hollow HZSM-5, which enhanced the activity for C-O cleavage of EG, led to an excellent yield of ethanol. The highly efficient cooperation of the three components of Pt, WOx, and hollow HZSM-5 realized the one-pot production of cellulosic ethanol in complex consecutive reactions.

Automated summary

In this study, a multifunctional catalyst composed of Pt/WOx and hollow Pt@HZSM-5 was reported for the efficient one-pot conversion of cellulose to ethanol. The cooperation of Pt, WOx, and hollow HZSM-5 enabled the complex consecutive reactions and resulted in a high yield of ethanol.