Effect of TiO2 polymorphs and crystallite size on the catalytic properties of Pt/TiO2 in the selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

Abstract

Furfuryl alcohol (FA) is an important intermediate for the manufacturing of many fine chemical products such as furan, resin, vitamin C, and lysine. In this research, the selective hydrogenation of furfural to FA was carried out in a batch reactor at 50ºC, 20 bar H2 and 2 h reaction time using Pt (0.5 wt. %) on TiO2 support. The Pt/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation on different commercial TiO2 polymorphs and different temperatures calcined TiO2 sol-gel. Among the commercially available TiO2, it was found that Pt supported on P25 exhibited the highest furfural conversion and selectivity of furfuryl alcohol at 81% and 98%, respectively. For the sol-gel synthesized TiO2, Pt supported on TiO2 calcined at temperature 600ºC exhibited the highest furfural conversion and selectivity of furfuryl alcohol at 88% and 93%, respectively. The mixed phases of TiO2 may promoted activity of catalysts, which was in good agreement with H2-TPR, XPS, and TEM results. The catalyst performances were correlated to the structural properties of the catalysts such as Pt-TiO2 interaction and Pt dispersion. Moreover, Pt based catalysts selectively hydrogenated furfural to produce furfuryl alcohol.