Selectively chemo-catalytic hydrogenolysis of cellulose to EG and EtOH over porous SiO2 supported tungsten catalysts

Cellulosic ethanol produced from lignocellulose biomass can alleviate the shortage of conventional fossil energy supply and reduce global CO 2 emissions. Wherein, hydrogenolysis of cellulose to ethanol is a new method for the synthesis of fuel ethanol, which could theoretically utilizes all carbon atoms in glucose in the direct retro-aldol condensation (RAC) reaction to produce ethanol, and can potentially break through the technical bottleneck of biological methods. Herein, we show that the benefits of the mesoporous structure of tungsten-based catalysts can be leveraged to influence the selective hydrogenolysis of cellulose into C2 products. Comparing the performance of different pore size SiO 2 supported tungsten catalysts and detailed characterizations revealed that the mesoporous structure of supports can affect the morphology, crystal sizes, and surface chemistry of the catalysts, which presented a combined effect on the hydrogenolysis reaction. Whereby, 51.5 wt% ethylene glycol (EG) was obtained from the direct hydrogenolysis of cellulose over Ru-WOx/SiO 2 (500 Ȧ) catalyst under 513 K, and 40.5 wt% ethanol (EtOH) was obtained from the direct hydrogenolysis of cellulose over Ir-WOx/SiO 2 (500 Ȧ) catalyst under 553 K, respectively. Selectively chemo-catalytic hydrogenolysis of cellulose to EG and EtOH over porous SiO 2 supported tungsten catalysts • One-pot chemo-catalytic hydrogenolysis of cellulose to ethanol with completely utilization of all carbon atoms in feedstock. • Comprehensive investigation of the effect of pore structure on the catalytic performance and product distribution. • 40.5 wt% EtOH, and 51.5 wt% EG were obtained from the directly hydrogenolysis of cellulose, respectively.