Layered Double Hydroxide‐Derived Bimetallic Ni−Cu Catalysts Prompted the Efficient Conversion of γ‐Valerolactone to 2‐Methyltetrahydrofuran

The catalytic upgrading of γ-valerolactone (GVL) to liquid biofuel, which is of great importance to the development of new types of high-performance heterogeneous catalysts, is regarded as a technically difficult task because of the thermal stability of GVL. Consequently, in this study, a series of nanocatalysts NixCu3-x/Al2O3 (x=0, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3) derived from layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors were prepared for the hydrogenation of biomass-derived GVL to 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MTHF). The optimal bimetallic Ni2Cu1/Al2O3 catalyst showed high 2-MTHF selectivity with complete GVL conversion. Detailed characterization revealed cooperation between the acid sites and Ni−Cu alloy in the bimetallic catalysts, which was responsible for their high activities. More importantly, the strong interaction between Ni and Cu changed the surface chemical environment, which generated different copper species and enhanced the H2 activation ability. The reusability of the Ni2Cu1/Al2O3 catalyst and the effect of the reaction conditions, such as temperature, H2 pressure, and solvent, were also investigated.