Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)
Visible light upgrading of furfural to fuel additives Ahmad Kazim Mohammed, Micheal M Forde* University of the West Indies, St. Augustine E-mail: ahmad.mohammed1@my.uwi.edu
Global population growth fuels demand for energy and chemicals, worsening pollution and global warming. Fossil fuels, the primary energy and carbon source, are finite and harmful. Renewable energy and carbon sources are crucial. Waste biomass offers a sustainable alternative, reducing fossil fuel dependence and promoting a circular economy through waste minimization and material reuse. 1-3 This research focuses on the photocatalytic upgrading of furfural, a platform molecule derived from waste biomass such as corn stover, to high-value chemicals. Photocatalysis was chosen due to its use of sunlight, an abundant and renewable energy source, thereby avoiding the environmental impacts associated with fossil fuel-powered electricity. The process is energy-efficient, as photons from the sunlight are directly utilized by the catalyst without conversion to other forms of energy. The use a novel catalyst synthesis method called chemical vapour impregnation which is a solventless method, to deposit metal nanoparticles (<5nm) on the surface of a well-known photocatalyst Titania (TiO 2 ). 4,5 We investigated the conversion of Furfural to the primary product which is gamma-velerolactone (GVL) utilizing TiO 2 based photocatalysts, with noble and non-noble metal nanoparticles deposited on the surfaces as monometallic and bimetallic catalysts, under visible light irradiation. Our findings demonstrate that these TiO 2 based catalysts can achieve high yields (>75%) and selectivity (>99%) for GVL. This study highlights the potential of photocatalytic methods for the sustainable production of value-added chemicals from biomass-derived feedstocks, which in turn meets the objectives of many UN SDGs. Key words: Biomass, Catalysis, Furfural, Photocatalysis and Visible Light. References 1. Oil crisis | Definition, History, & Facts. 2023 . 2. Dahman, Y.; Syed, K.; Begum, S.; Roy, P.; Mohtasebi, B. In Biomass, Biopolymer-Based Materials, and Bioenergy ; Verma, D.;Fortunati, E.;Jain, S.;Zhang, X., Eds.; Woodhead Publishing, 2019, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102426- 3.00014-X https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102426-3.00014-X. 3. Houghton, J. Global warming. Reports on Progress in Physics 2005 , 68 (6), 1343. 4. Védrine, J. C. In Catalysts , 2017; Vol. 7. 5. Forde, M. M.; Armstrong, R. D.; McVicker, R.; Wells, P. P.; Dimitratos, N.; He, Q.; Lu, L.; Jenkins, R. L.; Hammond, C.; Lopez- Sanchez, J. A.et al. Light alkane oxidation using catalysts prepared by chemical vapour impregnation: tuning alcohol selectivity through catalyst pre-treatment. Chemical Science 2014 , 5 (9), 3603.
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