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The selective conversion of biomass-derived γ-valerolactone (GVL) to alternative green transportation fuels with high selectivity through a one-step synthesis process remains very challenging. The current procedures for GVL conversion to liquid fuels suffer from low selectivity or multiple operation steps with high energy consumption. Herein, we reported a simple and efficient way for the one-step synthesis of pentane fuel from GVL over the designed Co/HZSM-5 bifunctional catalyst in a single fixed-bed reactor under mild reaction conditions. The excellent catalytic performance of 99.9% conversion of GVL with 93.5% selectivity to pentane fuel and good stability for 100 h on stream was obtained. Combined experimental and theoretical studies demonstrated that the synergetic effect of interfacial active sites between metallic Co0 and proton acids of HZSM-5 is crucial for the high catalytic performance via providing a spontaneous carbonyl carbon–oxygen single bond cleavage path of GVL toward the selective synthesis of targeted pentane fuel through a series of subsequent reactions such as hydrogenation and hydrodehydration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selectivity and activity of a nickel catalyst for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to form methane at low temperatures could be enhanced by mesoporous Al 2 O 3 -CeO 2 synthesized through a one-pot sol-gel method. The performances of the as-prepared Ni/Al 2 O 3 -CeO 2 catalysts exceeded those of their single Al 2 O 3 counterpart giving a conversion of 78% carbon dioxide with 100% selectivity for methane during 100 h testing, without any deactivation, at the low temperature of 320 °C. The influence of CeO 2 doping on the structure of the catalysts, the interactions between the mesoporous support and nickel species, and the reduction behaviors of Ni 2+ ions were investigated in detail. In this work, the addition of CeO 2 to the composites increased the oxygen vacancies and active metallic nickel sites, and also decreased the size of the nickel particles, thus improving the low temperature catalytic activity and selectivity significantly., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)