Catalytic hydrogenation of furfural over Cu/CeO2 Catalyst: The effect of support morphology and exposed facet

• Published in: Applied surface science 2022-12, Vol.604, p.154472, Article 154472
• Main Authors: Tan, Jingjing, He, Jing, Gao, Kuan, Zhu, Shanhui, Cui, Jinglei, Huang, Long, Zhu, Yulei, Zhao, Yongxiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Furfural; Furfuryl alcohol; Hydrogenation; Morphology effect; Oxygen vacancy
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.154472

The hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol was performed over Cu/CeO2-R catalyst exposed (110) crystal plane with amount oxygen vacancies. The synergistic catalysis between the surface Cu0 and the oxygen vacancies in Cu-CeO2 interface significantly improved the catalytic performance. [Display omitted] •Cu/CeO2-R (110) catalyst with more oxygen vacancies exhibited a superior activity compared with Cu/CeO2-P (111) and Cu/CeO2-C (100).•A high yield of 98 % for furfuryl alcohol was achieved over Cu/CeO2-R (110) at 100 °C, 2 MPa H2 within 4 h.•DFT calculations corroborated that the oxygen vacancies on the catalyst surface promote the adsorption and activation of furfural.•The high efficiency of Cu/CeO2-R (110) catalyst was attributed to the synergistic catalysis between the surface Cu0 and the oxygen vacancies. The hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol in liquid was performed over Cu/CeO2 catalyst with different morphology that was nanorod (CeO2-R), nanocube (CeO2-C) and nanopolyhedron (CeO2-P), respectively. It was observed that the Cu/CeO2-R catalyst exposed (110) crystal plane owns more oxygen vacancies and metal sites of Cu0 in comparison with the catalyst of Cu/CeO2-P and Cu/CeO2-C. Meanwhile, it exhibited superior catalytic performance for furfural hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol with a high yield of 98 % at 100 °C, 2 MPa H2 within 4 h. The structure–activity relationship demonstrated that the catalyst intrinsic activity (TOF) is positively related to the concentration of oxygen vacancies and the metal sites of Cu0 on its surface. DFT calculations and in-situ FTIR confirmed that Cu/CeO2-R (110) catalyst with more oxygen vacancy is in favor of the adsorption and activation of furfural (CO) on the catalyst surface compared with Cu/CeO2-P (111) and Cu/CeO2-C (100). Accordingly, the remarkable efficiency of Cu/CeO2-R catalyst can be assigned to the synergistic catalysis between the surface Cu0 and the oxygen vacancies. Cu0 was used to adsorb and activate H2, whereas the oxygen vacancies facilitate the adsorption of CO by O on the surface of the catalyst.