Room temperature hydrogenation of furfuryl alcohol by Pd/titanate nanotube

• Pd/TNTs: a highly active catalyst for furfuryl alcohol hydrogenation.
• Ninety eight percent selectivity of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol is achieved.
• Na+ improves the Pd dispersion and favors the hydrogenation reaction pathway.
• Alcoholic solvents enhance the hydrogenation activity.

The liquid phase hydrogenation of furfuryl alcohol to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol at room temperature under 1 atm hydrogen was succeeded on a TiO2 nanotube (TNT) supported palladium catalyst. The palladium nanoparticles in size of 2–8 nm were loaded by the deposition-reduction method with NaBH4 as reducing reagent. The Pd/TNT catalyst showed high dispersion as revealed by CO chemisorption and improved catalytic performance in terms of both furfuryl alcohol conversion and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol selectivity, probably attributed to the unique electronic interaction between Pd metals and TNT surface containing sodium cations. Among the catalysts investigated, 5.8 wt.% Pd/TNT showed the best performance, with 98% conversion and 98% selectivity to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol in ethanol.

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