Catalytic hydrogenation of corn stalk into polyol over Ni-W/MCM-41 catalyst

Ni-W/MCM-41 as a non-noble metal catalyst for catalytic conversion of corn stalk pretreated with alkali into polyol was prepared by an impregnation method. The results showed that pretreatment corn stalk with alkali removed 41.79 wt% of hemicellulose and 60.21 wt% of lignin and thereby increased the content of cellulose from 41.13 wt% to 59.29 wt%. Data obtained from X-ray photoelectron spectra exhibited that there was an intense interaction between nickel and tungsten. Meanwhile, the Ni17W3 alloy was evidenced by X-ray diffraction spectra. These were very beneficial to enhance the catalytic conversion of lignocellulose into polyol. The maximum yield of 71.37 wt% polyol was obtained by catalytic hydrogenation of lignocellulose to ethylene glycol and 1,2-propylene glycol utilizing 5%Ni-15%W/MCM-41 catalyst under H2 pressure of 6 MPa and 250 °C for 2 h.