Hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived sorbitol into ethylene and propylene glycols

an alternative route for petroleum based process

usually takes place over metal catalyst with a base promoter. The presence of soluble bases introduces additional problems for their separation and recovery

increasing the complexity and operating cost of the process. Sometimes

these base additives result in the formation of more side-products. Ru supported on various solid bases to facilitate catalyst recovery and recycle was investigated. Ru catalysts supported on 2 solid bases

hydrotalcite (HT) and hydroxyapatite

were prepared and investigated for sorbitol hydrogenolysis activity in base-free aqueous solution

and their performance was compared with that of Ru catalyst supported on carbon nanofibers (Ru/CNFs)

with and without promotion by CaO. The physico-chemical properties of both supports and the supported Ru catalysts were characterized by SEM

N2 physisorption

XRD

TEM and CO2-TPD. The results indicate that Ru particles well disperse on the basic support and show as good activity as Ru/CNFs catalysts in sorbitol hydrogenolysis. The Ru catalyst using HT calcined at 500℃ as a support shows the best catalytic performance with promoted sorbitol conversion

higher selectivity to desired glycols and fewer byproducts. As a result

Ru/HT is believed to be a promising catalyst for sorbitol hydrogenolysis without added base. This is relevant to the development of a green process to produce glycols from biomass.