Guoguo Liu

Synergistic Effect of a Boron-Doped Carbon-Nanotube-Supported Cu Catalyst for Selective Hydrogenation of Dimethyl Oxalate to Ethanol

Heteroatom doping is a promising approach to improve the properties of carbon materials for customized applications. Herein, a series of Cu catalysts supported on boron-doped carbon nanotubes (Cu/xB-CNTs) were prepared for the hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) to ethanol. The structure and chemical properties of boron-doped catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, N2 O pulse adsorption, CO chemisorption, H2 temperature-programmed reduction, and NH3 temperature-programmed desorption, which revealed that doping boron into CNT supports improved the Cu dispersion, strengthened the interaction of Cu species with the CNT support, introduced more surface acid sites, and increased the surface area of Cu0 and especially Cu+ sites. Consequently, the catalytic activity and stability of the catalysts were greatly enhanced by boron doping. 100 % DMO conversion and 78.1 % ethanol selectivity could be achieved over the Cu/1B-CNTs catalyst, the ethanol selectivity of which was almost 1.7 times higher than that of the catalyst without boron doping. These results suggest that doping CNTs with boron is an efficient approach to improve the catalytic performance of CNT-based catalysts for hydrogenation of DMO. The boron-doped CNT-based catalyst with improved ethanol selectivity and catalytic stability will be helpful in the development of efficient Cu catalysts supported on non-silica materials for selective hydrogenation of DMO to ethanol.

Green Synthesis of Rice Bran Microsphere Catalysts Containing Natural Biopromoters

The application of rice‐bran catalysts containing “biopromoters”, from rice bran, in the production of synthetic oil was investigated. Trace minerals such as K, Mg, and Mn from rice bran were successfully incorporated into Fe@C microspherical cores and played a cooperative promotional role on the iron species. The yield of the hydrocarbons was strikingly higher than that obtained with the unpromoted catalyst. Further, rice bran is a natural carbon source, not a chemical carbon source, that can be used to fabricate the carbon microsphere support. This concept opens a new avenue for recycling and boosts the value of abundant waste biomass in nature.

Tandem catalytic synthesis of benzene from CO2 and H2

Benzene as an important raw material for production of industrial chemicals is generally synthesized from petroleum and coal tar. Here, we realized the synthesis of benzene from greenhouse CO2 and H2 with two connected reactors by a tandem catalysis reaction comprising CO2 methanation and CH4 aromatization. The Ni/SiO2 catalyst loaded in the first reactor was used to convert CO2 to CH4, and the formed CH4 was sequentially converted to benzene on the Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst in the second reactor. The benzene formation rate reaches 0.68 μmol g−1 min−1 accompanied by a high CO2 conversion of 92%. This concept will provide a new pathway for the direct synthesis of benzene and CO2 utilization.