Effect of reduction temperature on ruthenium catalysts supported on biochars from rice husk for the hydrogenation reaction of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone

VIRGINIA I. RODRIGUEZ; GUSTAVO MENDOW; BÁRBARA S. SÁNCHEZ; M. FLORENCIA AZCOAGA CHORT; GARCÍA, JUAN RAFAEL; PUJRO, RICHARD; SERGIO R. DE MIGUEL; NATALIA S. VEIZAGA

Santa Fe

Workshop; French-Argentinean Workshop on Heterogeneous Catalysis; 2023

INCAPE

Levulinic acid (LA) is one of the most important biomass platform molecules because it can be chemically converted to many secondary derivatives. Among the possible ones, the synthesis of γ-valerolactone (GVL) from LA by hydrogenation has attracted much attention due to the wide application of GVL in the production of solvents, polymers, and especially as fuel additives [1]. Supported Ru nanoparticles are active and selective catalysts due to their satisfactory ability to activate the C=O bond in the LA molecule [2]. Besides that, the preparation of high-performance activated carbon from biomass residues is promising and low-cost. The main objective of the work will be aimed at the synthesis of activated carbon from a biomass residue capable of being used as catalytic support, and on the other hand to find an optimal reduction temperature of Ru that leads to a high selectivity towards GVL.