Hydrogenolysis of cellulose into polyols over Ni/W/SiO2 catalysts

•The hydrogenolysis of cellulose was examined over Ni/W/SiO2 catalysts.•The crystallite size of W increased with average pore size of support.•The crystallite size of W increased with reduction temperature.•The yield of polyols increased on decreasing the crystallite size of W.•The amount of surface acid site decreased with increasing crystallite size of W.

The direct conversion of cellulose into polyols in the presence of hydrogen was examined over Ni/W/SiO2 catalysts to establish the effects of average pore size of support and reduction temperature on the catalytic performance. The crystalline particle size of W, determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), generally increased with increase in the average pore size of support and reduction temperature for Ni/W/SiO2. The yield of polyols such as sorbitol, mannitol, erythritol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propanediol increased on decreasing the crystalline particle size of W in Ni/W/SiO2. The individual catalytic activity of Ni/W/SiO2 was much better than that of the combined catalyst systems, i.e., Ni/SiO2 + W and Ni/SiO2 + WO3. The oxidation state effect of nickel and tungsten in Ni/W/SiO2 catalyst on the catalytic performance was also investigated. The reduced and oxidized Ni/W/SiO2 catalysts were found to be effective in forming polyols and organic acids, respectively.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (65 K)Download as PowerPoint slide