Hydrogenation of ethyl acetate to ethanol over Cu/ZnO/MOx (MOx = SiO2, Al2O3, and ZrO2) catalysts

•Ethyl acetate hydrogenation to ethanol over copper-based catalysts was studied.•Presence of ZnO decreased the crystallite sizes of metallic copper in the catalysts.•Small copper crystallite and high catalyst acidity favored hydrogenation reaction.•Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst exhibited low activation energy for the hydrogenation reaction.

The Cu/ZnO/SiO2, Cu/ZnO/Al2O3, and Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 catalysts prepared by the co-precipitation method were used for the catalytic hydrogenation of ethyl acetate to ethanol. The addition of ZnO in the Cu/ZnO/MOx catalysts improved their catalytic activities for the hydrogenation reaction. Small-sized copper crystallite and high surface acidity favored the catalytic hydrogenation of ethyl acetate to ethanol. The Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst gave the ethanol selectivity of ca. 95% at the ethyl acetate conversion of ca. 80% when the reaction temperature was 280 °C. The reaction activation energy over Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was 115 kJ mol−1, lower than those over the Cu/ZnO/SiO2 and Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 catalysts.

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