High-efficient production of fatty alcohol via hydrogenation of fatty acid over Cu-NbOx/SBA-15 catalyst.

Cu/SBA-15 and Cu-NbO x /SBA-15 catalysts were prepared and evaluated in the hydrogenation of palmitic acid to palmitic alcohol. A high palmitic alcohol yield of 90.8% was obtained using palmitic acid as feedstock. NbO x has been considered to be crucial for the excellent performance and the synergy between Cu and NbO x was well investigated. The interaction between Cu species and NbO x -containing support was studied by various characterizations, such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), H 2 -temperature programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The kinetic data for rate determining step were also collected. The synergistic effect of Cu and NbO x to catalytic activity was discussed and the following insights were obtained: i) the NbO x doping led to form abundant Cu species with more electron-deficient, which is beneficial for the production of alcohol; ii) the oxygen affinity of NbO x promotes the adsorption of oxygen-containing group. Finally, the natural product of palm oil was taken as feedstock and an ideal yield 84.2% of palmitic alcohol was harvested. [Display omitted] • A catalyst Cu-NbO x /SBA-15 with uniform and small size Cu species supported on SBA-15 was obtained by introducing NbO x species. • The Cu-NbO x /SBA-15 performed excellently in hydrogenation of palmitic acid to palmitic alcohol, with a yield of 90.8%. • The high-efficiency of Cu-NbO x /SBA-15 is attributed to the synergistic effect between Cu and NbO x species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]