Study on CuO/SiO_2 Environmentally Friendly Catalysts for Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol and 2-Methylfuran(I)──Influence of Copper Content on the Structure and Catalytic Performance of Catalysts

CuO/SiO-2 environmentally friendly catalysts were prepared by sol-gel methods. The structure of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM. The catalysts were applied for Hydrogenation of Furfural to furfuryl alcohol and 2-methylfuran. Influence of copper content on the structure and catalytic performance of Catalysts was discussed. The performance of the catalysts were compared with Cu-Cr/γ-Al 2O 3 catalysts. The results showed that sol-gel method could prepare ultrafine particle catalysts. The active components had smaller crystal diameter and more highly dispersed on the support surface. The catalysts had high activity and excellent selectivity in the hydrogenation reaction of furfural. As a new type of catalysts, they could substitute Cu-Cr catalysts for producing furfuryl alcohol and 2-methylfuran.