Selective hydrogenation of biomass-derived ethyl levulinate to gamma-valerolactone over supported Co catalysts in continuous process at atmospheric pressure

The present work is aimed to produce gamma-valerolactone (GVL) from ethyl levulinate hydrogenation over non-noble metal cobalt catalysts at atmospheric pressure in continuous process. Various supported (SBA-15, SiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2, and TiO2) cobalt catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method and characterized by XRD, N-2 physisorption, SEM, TEM, NH3-TPD, H-2-TPR and H-2-pulse chemisorption techniques. The yield of GVL follows the trend Co/SBA-15 > Co/SiO2 > Co/Al2O3 > Co/ZrO2 > Co/TiO2 similar to trend in active Co metal surface area. The catalytic activity of the supported Co catalyst is strongly influenced by the dispersion and particle size of the Co. (C) 2017 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.