Efficient conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-dimethylfuran by the rational design of NiZn catalysts

• Hydrogenolysis of HMF to DMF was catalyzed by reduced NiZn catalyst. • The highest 99% DMF yield was obtained at 180 °C for 4 h under 2 MPa H 2 . • The formation of NiZn alloy in reduced NiZn-450 catalyst exhibited high C-O hydrogenolysis ability. • An outstanding stability was achieved for reusing 9 times. The transformation of biomass to liquid fuels and chemicals is of great interests. Herein, a series of reduced NiZn-CT (CT represents calcination temperature) catalysts with flower-like morphology and uniform particle sizes were prepared by co-precipitation method and used for hydrogenolysis of 5-hydroxymethylfural (HMF) to 2,5-dimethyfuran (DMF). The characterizations evidenced the formation of NiZn alloy phase in the catalysts through the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), which had high C-O hydrogenolysis ability. The synergy of hydrogenation and C-O hydrogenolysis is essential for HMF to DMF, and we surprisingly found that this synergistic effect can be achieved just by controlling calcination temperature to regulated SMSI between Ni and ZnO. By this way, 99% DMF yield was gained at 180 °C for 4 h under 2 MPa H 2 over reduced NiZn-450 catalyst. More importantly, the active centers of this Ni/ZnO catalyst exhibited outstanding stability. There was no significant decrease in activity after reusing 9 times. The current research provided an easy-made catalytic system for HMF hydrogenolysis.