Morphology-dependent wrinkled silica-supported Pd catalysts for hydrogenation of furfural under mild conditions.

The production of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFAL) from biomass-derived furfural (FF) via one-pot hydrogenation is challenging owing to the high hydrogen pressure and temperature requirements of the system. In this study, a hydrothermal method is used to synthesize a series of wrinkled silica (KCC-1) supports having different morphologies and textural properties by modulating the cetylpyridinium bromide hydrate (CPB)/tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) ratio. Subsequently, Pd-supported KCC-1 catalysts are fabricated along with a Pd/SiO 2 catalyst (for comparative studies) via a chemical reduction method. Interestingly, the morphological features of the supports, such as the specific surface area, pore size, and Pd anchoring sites, differed significantly for different CPB/TEOS ratios. Among the synthesized catalysts, Pd/KCC 0.3, with the lowest proportion of Pd nanoparticles deposited on the external porous surface, exhibits the highest catalytic activity, owing to its large specific surface area and moderate pore size. Moreover, it shows the highest FF conversion of 100% and THFAL selectivity of 85% in 6 h at 50 °C under 20 bar H 2. • KCC-1 supports with different morphologies are prepared by tuning CPB/TEOS ratios. • The correlation between the morphological features and the catalytic activity of Pd-based catalysts have been investigated. • Pd/KCC-1 catalsyts show higher selectivity for one-pot hydrogenation of furfural compared to Pd/SiO 2. • Pd/KCC 0.3 catalyst with a large surface area and low fiber density showed the highest selectivity to THFAL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]