Hydrogenolysis of cellulose to C4–C7 alcohols over bi-functional CuO–MO/Al2O3 (M = Ce, Mg, Mn, Ni, Zn) catalysts coupled with methanol reforming reaction

• Cellulose was efficiently converted to C4–C7 alcohols via hydrogenolysis.
• Methanol was used as the reaction media and the hydrogen source.
• CuO-based catalysts catalyze both the methanol reforming and cellulose conversion.

This work demonstrates the efficient hydrogenolysis of cellulose to C4–C7 alcohols and gas products (reaction 1) by coupling it with the reforming reaction of methanol (reaction 2) over bi-functional CuO-based catalysts. In this process, the CuO-based catalysts catalyze both the reactions 1 and 2, and the in situ regenerated H2 in the reaction 2 is used for the reaction 1. A series of CuO–MO/Al2O3 (M = Ce, Mg, Mn, Ni, Zn) catalysts were prepared by the co-precipitation method. Among these catalysts, CuO–ZnO/Al2O3 exhibited the highest activity to generate a high cellulose conversion of 88% and a high C4–C7 alcohols content above 95% in the liquid products. The CuO–ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was stable under the reaction conditions and reusable after 4 runs. This work provides a cost-effective route to convert abundant renewable cellulose to liquid fuels.

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