1. Low temperature conversion of levulinic acid into γ-valerolactone using Zn to generate hydrogen from water and nickel catalysts supported on sepiolite
- Author
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Benjamín Solsona, María Pilar Pico, María Luisa Osete López, Tomás García, Inmaculada Álvarez-Serrano, Rut Sanchis, Ana Dejoz, Pablo J. Miguel, Adrián García, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), European Commission, García Moreno, Adrián [0000-0002-9530-1230], Miguel, P.J. [0000-0002-6706-8152], Dejoz, Ana [0000-0002-1600-8803], Álvarez-Serrano, Inmaculada [0000-0003-1360-034X], García Martínez, Tomás [0000-0003-4255-5998], Solsona, Benjamín [0000-0001-7235-2038], García Moreno, Adrián, Miguel, P.J., Dejoz, Ana, Álvarez-Serrano, Inmaculada, García Martínez, Tomás, and Solsona, Benjamín
- Subjects
Hydrogen ,Metal-catalysts ,Formic acid ,General Chemical Engineering ,Sepiolite ,Inorganic chemistry ,chemistry.chemical_element ,General Chemistry ,Catalysis ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Nickel ,chemistry ,Formic-acid ,Levulinic acid ,Water splitting ,Biomass ,Hydrogen production - Abstract
1 scheme, 2 tables, 7 figures.-- Supplementary material available., In the present article, gamma-valerolactone has been obtained from levulinic acid with a yield exceeding 25% using very mild conditions without feeding hydrogen (30 degrees C, atmospheric pressure, water as the hydrogen source). The overall reaction conducted is a two-step process: first, a redox reaction involving the oxidation of metallic Zn to ZnO for in situ hydrogen production through the water splitting reaction and, second, a catalytic reaction involving Ni-supported catalysts for the production of gamma-valerolactone from levulinic acid. Ni active sites have been supported on sepiolite, an abundant and cheap material. The nickel particle size has been demonstrated to be a parameter of paramount importance determining the catalytic activity, since the best catalytic performance is obtained with the smallest Ni nanoparticles. This combination of Zn and Ni supported on sepiolite shows a good catalytic stability after three catalytic runs., Authors from UCM thank MINECO (MAT2017-84118-C2-2-R project) and UCM CAI center of EM. Authors from UV thank MINECO (MAT2017-84118-C2-1-R project) and FEDER for funding. A. G. thanks MINECO for the pre-doctoral grant.
- Published
- 2020