Highly efficient Cu/SiO2 catalyst derived from ethanolamine modification for furfural hydrogenation

Abstract The production of furfuryl alcohol from furfural hydrogenation in gas phase is of great significance for the valorization of biomass. The existing catalyst for this transformation suffers from high cost and complex preparation process. Thus, a highly efficient copper catalyst was developed by a simple impregnation method using ethanolamine modified granular silica as carrier. The catalytic performance was related to the amount of ethanolamine used in modification. Highly dispersed copper with uniform particle size distribution was obtained from appropriate amount of ethanolamine modified granular silica. The ethanolamine modified granular silica (mass ratio between ethanolamine and silica was 3 in the initial modification mixture) supported copper catalyst exhibited the best performance in terms of catalyst lifetime thanks to its maximum amount of Cu0 sites and largest amount of Cu+ sites. A slow deactivation of the catalyst after extended time on stream evaluation is attributed to carbon deposition and slow copper sintering.