Highly efficient CuNi-ZrO nanocomposites for selective hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone.

CuNi-ZrO nanocomposites were prepared by a simple coprecipitation technique of copper, nickel and zirconium ions with potassium carbonate. The structures of the nanocomposites were characterized by N physical adsorption, XRD, H-TPR and STEM-EDS. The CuNi-ZrO nanocomposite showed outstanding catalytic performance in hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to γ-valerolactone (GVL), especially NaOH solution (0.5 mol L) as a solvent. 100% LA conversion and > 99.9% GVL selectivity are achieved over CuNi-ZrO catalyst at 200 °C, 3 MPa for 1.5 h. Characterization results suggest that the excellent reactivity of the CuNi-ZrO may be due to a better reducibility of nickel oxide in the CuONiO-ZrO, dispersion of Ni in the CuNi-ZrO compared to nickel oxide in the NiO-ZrO and Ni in the Ni-ZrO and promotion of OH. The results demonstrate that the CuNi-ZrO nanocomposite has potential to realize high efficiency and low-cost synthesis of liquid fuels from biomass.