Open Access

ARTICLE

Effects of TiO₂ Support and Cobalt Addition of Ni/TiO₂ Catalyst in Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

Kittithad Wonglekha^1,#, Weerachon Tolek^1,#, Okorn Mekasuwandumrong², Wasu Chaitree², Piyasan Praserthdam¹, Kiat Moon Lee³, Joongjai Panpranot^1,3,4,*

1 Center of Excellence on Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakorn Pathom, 73000, Thailand
3 Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Technology and Built Environment, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, 56000, Malaysia
4 Bio-Circular-Green-Economy Technology & Engineering Center, BCGeTEC, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

* Corresponding Author: Joongjai Panpranot. Email:
# Equal contribution

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Catalysis toward the Production of Green Energy and Chemicals)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2022, 10(8), 2055-2072. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2022.019680

Received 09 October 2021; Accepted 19 January 2022; Issue published 25 April 2022

Abstract

An effect of phase compositions (rutile, Rut and anatase, Ant) of TiO₂ supports on the selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol was investigated. The 15%wt Ni/TiO₂ catalysts were prepared by incipient impregnation method. The result showed that Ni supported on anatase-rutile mixed phase TiO₂ (91% Rut and 9% Ant, A2) provided the highest furfuryl alcohol yield at 43.8% due to the relatively strong Ni-TiO₂ interaction, its appropriate crystallite sizes, and high average pore sizes. Furthermore, the effect of cobalt as a promoter on Ni/ TiO₂-A2 catalysts was studied. The result showed that the Ni-Co/TiO₂-A2 catalysts exhibited poorer catalyst performances compared to the monometallic Ni/TiO₂, probably because addition of cobalt can lower the reduction temperatures of Ni/TiO₂ and weaken the metal-support interaction.

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