TY - JOUR
T1 - Molybdenum carbide, supercritical ethanol and base
T2 - Keys for unlocking renewable BTEX from lignin
AU - Lui, Matthew Y.
AU - Masters, Anthony F.
AU - Maschmeyer, Thomas
AU - Yuen, Alexander K.L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors also acknowledge the facilities and the technical and scientific assistance of Sydney Analytical, a core research facility at The University of Sydney. Dr Jyah Strachan is acknowledged for his assistance with PXRD analyses, and Dr. Edwin Clatworthy for discussions and initial electron microscopy analyses. Financial support from Hong Kong Baptist University (Tier 1 Grant) for MYL is also acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2023/5/15
Y1 - 2023/5/15
N2 - Supported molybdenum hemicarbide catalysts were prepared and employed for the depolymerization and deoxygenation of waste lignins to aromatics in supercritical ethanol. Titanium nitride appears be a particularly beneficial support material. Depolymerization at 330 °C led to a higher yield and selectivity for arenes than at 280 °C. Base is essential for efficient substrate conversion: the basic constituents inherent in waste lignins are suitable, as is added sodium hydroxide. Without base, depolymerization is poor, the yield of aromatics is very low, and substrate defunctionalisation does not occur. A significant proportion of aromatic products is formed from supercritical ethanol itself, including benzene, which is likely to be present in all catalytic runs due to ethanol aromatization. Hence the total arene content produced is actually higher than has been widely reported. Catalytic cracking of ethanol leads to C1-units, which add to reaction intermediates to give aromatics containing odd numbers of carbons (e.g. toluene).
AB - Supported molybdenum hemicarbide catalysts were prepared and employed for the depolymerization and deoxygenation of waste lignins to aromatics in supercritical ethanol. Titanium nitride appears be a particularly beneficial support material. Depolymerization at 330 °C led to a higher yield and selectivity for arenes than at 280 °C. Base is essential for efficient substrate conversion: the basic constituents inherent in waste lignins are suitable, as is added sodium hydroxide. Without base, depolymerization is poor, the yield of aromatics is very low, and substrate defunctionalisation does not occur. A significant proportion of aromatic products is formed from supercritical ethanol itself, including benzene, which is likely to be present in all catalytic runs due to ethanol aromatization. Hence the total arene content produced is actually higher than has been widely reported. Catalytic cracking of ethanol leads to C1-units, which add to reaction intermediates to give aromatics containing odd numbers of carbons (e.g. toluene).
KW - Ethanol aromatization
KW - Lignin valorization
KW - Molybdenum carbide
KW - Renewable chemicals
KW - Supercritical ethanol
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146181200&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2022.122351
DO - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2022.122351
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85146181200
SN - 0926-3373
VL - 325
JO - Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
JF - Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
M1 - 122351
ER -
