Catalytic deoxygenation of vanillin over layered double hydroxide supported Pd catalyst

Nanocavity in hollow sandwiched catalysts as substrate regulator for boosting hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived carbonyl compounds

Hydrodeoxygenation of oxygen-rich molecules toward hydrocarbons is attractive yet challenging in the sustainable biomass upgrading. The typical supported metal catalysts often display unstable catalytic performances owing to the migration and aggregation of metal nanoparticles (NPs) into large sizes under harsh conditions. Here, we develop a crystal growth and post-synthetic etching method to construct hollow chromium terephthalate MIL-101 (named as HoMIL-101) with one layer of sandwiched Ru NPs as robust catalysts. Impressively, HoMIL-101@Ru@MIL-101 exhibits the excellent activity and stability for hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived levulinic acid to gamma-valerolactone under 50°C and 1-megapascal H2, and its activity is about six times of solid sandwich counterparts, outperforming the state-of-the-art heterogeneous catalysts. Control experiments and theoretical simulation clearly indicate that the enrichment of levulinic acid and H2 by nanocavity as substrate regulator enables self-regulating the backwash of both substrates toward Ru NPs sandwiched in MIL-101 shells for promoting reaction with respect to solid counterparts, thus leading to the substantially enhanced performance.

Cobalt nanoparticle supported on layered double hydroxide: Effect of nanoparticle size on catalytic hydrogen production by NaBH4 hydrolysis

Catalytic hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) is a promising method to provide clean hydrogen (H₂) energy for portable devices. Therefore, designing a non-noble metal catalyst that performs well in this hydrolysis is essential. Cobalt-nanoparticles (Co-NPs) supported on magnesium-aluminium layered double hydroxide (LDH) with various mean diameter were synthesized by changing concentration of cobalt-citrate anion (Co-citrate) precursor used for ion exchange with the LDH host. Then the Co-citrate intercalated LDHs were reduced with NaBH₄ to form Co-NPs. Evidence of successful intercalation was shown by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Scanning TEM (STEM) observations revealed that Co-NPs were in metallic state and their mean diameter increased with the concentration of Co-citrate solution. Nitrogen physisorption isotherms showed that the surface structure of LDHs transformed from non-porous to mesoporous after chemical reduction, which indicated that the Co-NPs were formed in the interlayer of LDHs. Catalytic hydrolysis of NaBH₄ at 25 °C clarified that the catalyst synthesized from 6 mM Co-citrate solution showed the highest H₂ generation rate of 4520 ± 251 mL min^-1·g_Co^-1, indicating the catalyst had the optimum size of Co-NP. This activity could be considered relatively higher compared to unsupported cobalt and many other supported cobalt-base catalysts previously reported. It was also clearly shown that size of Co-NPs supported on LDH could be a significant parameter as it allowed better accessibility of reactants to the active catalyst surface to obtain maximum activity. For this optimum catalyst, the activation energy was evaluated to be 56.9 kJ mol^-1. Although the catalyst was able to achieve almost the same conversion when the catalyst was repeatedly tested five times under the same condition, the catalytic activity decreased gradually. Overall, it could be revealed that Co-NPs supported on LDHs have a huge potential to be used for H₂ energy production.