Hydrogenolysis of cellulose to C4-C7 alcohols over bi-functional CuO-MO/Al2O3 (M = Ce, Mg, Mn, Ni, Zn) catalysts coupled with methanol reforming reaction

This work demonstrates the efficient hydrogenolysis of cellulose to C4-C7 alcohols and gas products (reaction 1) by coupling it with the reforming reaction of methanol (reaction 2) over bi-functional CuO-based catalysts. In this process, the CuO-based catalysts catalyze both the reactions 1 and 2, and the in situ regenerated H-2 in the reaction 2 is used for the reaction 1. A series of CuO-MO/Al2O3 (M = Ce, Mg, Mn, Ni, Zn) catalysts were prepared by the co-precipitation method. Among these catalysts, CuO-ZnO/Al2O3 exhibited the highest activity to generate a high cellulose conversion of 88% and a high C4-C7 alcohols content above 95% in the liquid products. The CuO-ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was stable under the reaction conditions and reusable after 4 runs. This work provides a cost-effective route to convert abundant renewable cellulose to liquid fuels. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.