Boosting the selectivity of higher alcohols in upgrading of aqueous bioethanol over amphiphilic NiSn@C-MgO catalyst. (1st March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cai, Xueying; Li, Xiyin; Dang, Minyang; Huang, Huanxin; Liu, Ailin; Zhang, Qian; Pi, Yunhong; Meng, Qingwei; Wu, Xiaoping; Wang, Tiejun
• Is Part Of: Fuel. Volume 335(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-03-01
• Subjects: Aqueous ethanol upgrading -- Blending bio-fuel -- Higher alcohols -- Amphiphilic -- NiSn@C-MgO -- Carbonization temperature; Fuel -- Periodicals; Coal -- Periodicals; Coal; Fuel; Periodicals; 662.6
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2022.126971
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-2361

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: One-pot synthesize of phase-separable higher alcohols biofuel components. Direct hydrothermal coupling of 50 wt% aqueous bio-ethanol. An efficient strategy for modulating the amphipathicity of catalysts was demonstrated. The NiSn@C-MgO displays C6+ and C8+ alcohols yield of 36.0 % and 19.2 %, respectively. Abstract: Bio-ethanol produced from biomass has been regarded as a promising feedstock for producing higher alcohols (C4+ alcohols) through the Guerbet route. Nevertheless, the high-efficiency upgrading of bio-ethanol is driven by the current disadvantage of low selectivity to C6+ alcohols. Herein, we designed and synthesized an amphiphilic NiSn@C-MgO, which was composed of NiSn nanoparticles (NPs) coated with carbon shell and MgO nanoflakes support. Detailed experiments reveal that the amphiphilic NiSn@C-MgO catalyst can stabilize emulsions and facilitate the cross-coupling of ethanol and C4+ alcohols (generated by ethanol self-condensation) to generate C6+ alcohols in aqueous ethanol upgrading. Furthermore, the carbonization temperature has a great influence on the structure of NiSn@C-MgO, thus greatly affecting the catalyst performance. Consequently, the optimal NiSn@C-MgO-550 displays an excellent activity with ethanol conversion of 73.3 %, the selectivities of C6+ alcohols and C8+ alcohols in liquid products also reach up to 60.9 % and 32.5 %, respectively. This present strategy provides an efficient strategy for the direct upgrading of water-containing bio-ethanol to desired biofuel components, which may promote the fundamental researches on the production of biorefineries and green fuels.