Metal-contaminated biochars as cheap and more sustainable catalysts for furfural conversion to value-added compounds

• Published in: Molecular catalysis 2022-10, Vol.531, p.112692, Article 112692
• Main Authors: Madriaga, Vinicius G.C., Mattos, João Pedro R., Rossa, Vinicius, Ferreira, Luanne E.M., Vasconcelos, Sancler C., Silva, Domingos S.A., Rocha, Pamela S.M., dos Santos, Rodrigo D., Silva, Ludmila P.C., Araujo, Joyce R., Urquieta-González, Ernesto A., Romeiro, Gilberto A., Cassella, Ricardo J., Lima, Thiago M., Passos, Fabio B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biochar; Biomass; Furfural; Furfuryl alcohol; Sewage sludge
• ISSN: 2468-8231; 2468-8231
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mcat.2022.112692

•Sewage sludge-derived biochars (SSBs) were efficient catalysts in the furfural conversion.•SSBs presented high acidity and basic sites due to several metals present as contaminants.•Furfural was mainly converted to furfuryl alcohol using SSBs as catalysts.•Other furanic value-added products were obtained as ethers, ester, and ketone. Furfural is an important biobased building block molecule to produce several value-added compounds for the fine chemical industry, biofuels, and biopolymers through a catalytic pathway. Developing cheaper and more sustainable catalysts to promote furfural conversion reactions is imperative to meet the Green Chemistry principles and obtain biobased products through greener routes. In this sense, sewage sludge-derived biochars emerge as promising materials that catalyze furfural conversion reactions since they possess acid and basic surface sites due to their high metal content and organic structure. This paper reports the employment of two sewage sludge-derived biochars as catalysts for furfural conversion, an encouraging application for these solids with severe environmental concerns. These materials were fully characterized regarding their composition, structure, textural, morphological, acidic, and surface properties, displaying the presence of acid (Lewis and Brønsted) and basic sites. These biochars presented good activity for converting furfural (26.5–68.8%) and high selectivity to furfuryl alcohol (43.6–90.6%). In addition, other value-added products were observed, such as furfural-derived ethers, ester, and ketone. [Display omitted]