Studies on Cobalt Nano Particles Supported on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenation of Biomass Derived Furfural

Abstract

Inexpensive Co metal-based catalysts are explored for catalytic hydrogenation reactions but their leaching, selectivity and stability issues have realistically debarred their usage. To combat this issue, this work presents stable and selective cobalt supported nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts prepared by using cellulose and melamine as sources for carbon and nitrogen, respectively and pyrolyzed at temperatures ranging from 500 to 800 °C under N₂ atmosphere. The synthesized series of catalysts was examined for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol at 120 °C under 2 MPa of H₂ pressure. All catalysts were characterized through different spectroscopic techniques to build their structural-activity relationship. Here, pyrolysis temperature has shown its supremacy in directing catalyst performance. The catalyst Co/NC-700 exhibited 83% furfural conversion with near 100% selectivity to furfuryl alcohol. The catalytic activity found depended on Co particle size and its crystallinity which was tuned by varying pyrolysis temperature. Pyrolysis temperatures influenced the interaction between N-doped carbon and Co metal, mesoporous structure N-doped carbon support, availability of Co nanoparticles and hydrogen spillover that contributed to the remarkable catalyst efficiency. The catalysts are easy to separate and reusable with consistent activity upon several cycles. Additionally, the extent of the Co/NC-700 catalyst was expanded to hydrogenation of various substituted aldehydes where it yielded decent to excellent yields of alcohols.