Hydrogenation of biomass‐derived levulinic acid to γ‐valerolactone over copper catalysts supported on ZrO₂

Abstract

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND The utilization of biomass and agricultural wastes for production of biofuels is of interest as a research topic, since it could provide a cheaper process due to the wide availability and low cost of raw materials. RESULTS In this work the vapor phase hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ‐valerolactone over copper catalysts supported on ZrO 2 was investigated. The catalysts were prepared by a wet impregnation method with Cu loadings varying from 2 to 20 wt% and characterized by various physico‐chemical techniques. It was observed that copper dispersion and particle size obtained using a N 2 O decomposition method are in agreement with the findings derived from XRD and TPR . The catalytic functionalities are discussed in relation to the dispersion of copper and other structural properties of Cu species supported on ZrO 2 . A comparison of catalytic results of Cu/ ZrO 2 was made with CuO supported on Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 and TiO 2 . CONCLUSIONS Incorporation of 5 wt% copper on ZrO 2 resulted in well dispersed copper oxide on the support, evidenced by XRD , TPR and N 2 O decomposition studies. This catalyst exhibited good conversion (81%) of levulinic acid with good selectivity (83%) towards γ‐valerolactone. The activity results are directly related to the dispersion of copper and acidity. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry