NOVEL PREPARATION OF NANO-COMPOSITE CuO-Cr2O3 USING CTAB-TEMPLATE METHOD AND EFFICIENT FOR HYDROGENATION OF BIOMASS-DERIVED FURFURAL

A simple route to fabricate nano-composite oxides CuO-Cr2O3 using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-templated Cu-Cr hydrotalcite as the precursor is presented. This novel method is based on CTAB-templating effect for mesostructure directing and using the cheap metal nitrate, followed by removal of CTAB. It was indicated that the nano-composite CuO-Cr2O3 was formed during the removal of CTAB. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transitional electronic microscopy (TEM) revealed nice nano-composite oxides CuO-Cr2O3 were formed with high crystallinity. N-2 adsorption and desorption indicated that a high surface area of 170.5m(2)/g with a pore size of 2.7 nm of the nano-composite CuO-Cr2O3 was facilely resulted. The as-synthesized nano-composite oxides CuOCr2O3 display good catalytic activities for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol, whereas 86% selectivity was achieved at 75% conversion of furfural.