High performance of Au/ZTC based catalysts for the selective oxidation of bio-derivative furfural to 2-furoic acid

Abstract Furfural is a platform bio-molecule for which is valuable to develop new green upgrading processes in biorefinery. We report here for the first time the high performance of Au/ZTC catalyst for the selective oxidation of furfural to 2-furoic acid, as first step to develop electrodes. The ordered nanostructure and high surface area of BEA structure replica ZTC allows to develop 3D-type electrodes. Au/ZTC catalyst shows higher performance than commercial Vulcan, used as reference conductive carbon in fuel cells. The weak acidity on ZTC avoids decarboxylation and esterification reactions, leading to about 90% of furfural conversion fully selectivity to 2-furoic acid.