Facile and Low-Cost Preparation of Nb/Al Oxide Catalyst with High Performance for the Conversion of Kiwifruit Waste Residue to Levulinic Acid

The kiwifruit industry is booming worldwide. As a result, a great deal of kiwifruit waste residue (KWR) containing monosaccharides is produced and discarded. This material shows great potential for the production of platform chemicals. In this study, a series of Nb/Al oxide catalysts were synthesized via a facile and low-cost coprecipitation method, and their structures were characterized using: thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), XRD, FESEM, TEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), NH3-TPD, N-2 adsorption-desorption, and FTIR-Pyridine adsorption. Experimental results of sugar-to-levulinic acid (LA) conversion revealed that the 20%Nb/Al oxide catalyst provided the highest catalytic performance and durability in terms of LA yield from fructose (74.2%) at 463 K after 10 min and from glucose (47.5%) at 473 K after 15 min. Notably, the 20% Nb/Al oxide catalyst with a 10% dosage is capable of converting kiwifruit waste residue to LA at 473 K after 10 min. In conclusion, the enhanced catalytic performance was obtained due to the high acidity, and large surface areaof Nb/Al oxide catalyst.