Effective conversion of glucose to 1,3-propanediol and ethanol via multifunctional iron foam catalysts†

Abstract

Hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived glucose to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) and ethanol (EtOH) is an important process for the sustainable production of value-added chemicals. In this work, hydrogenolysis of glucose to 1,3-PDO and EtOH was investigated over multifunctional iron foam (FF) catalysts via a continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor. The CoW/FF catalyst displays the highest 1,3-PDO selectivity (55.9%), and the Zr/CoW/FF catalyst exhibits the highest EtOH selectivity (48.0%) over a 20 h reaction. A range of characterization methods, including HR-TEM, XPS, NH₃-TPD, Py-FTIR, and operando GLY-DRIFTS, were applied to reveal the nature of converting glucose into 1,3-PDO and EtOH. It is found that the interaction between CoWO₄ and Fe is beneficial to forming BAS and promoting glucose hydrogenolysis to 1,3-PDO. Besides, the added Zr promoter tunes this interaction and leads to a higher content of W⁵⁺ LAS, which contributes to high EtOH selectivity on Zr/CoW/FF catalysts with the synergistic effects of Fe hydrogenation active sites.