Effect of surface properties of TiO 2 on the performance of Pt/TiO 2 catalysts for furfural hydrogenation.

Hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfural is an important process in biofuel production. Herein, different Pt-supported TiO 2 morphologies: nanorod (NR), nanoparticle (NP), and hollow microsphere (HMS) were prepared by the impregnation-chemical reduction method. The furfural conversion increased with an increase of Pt dispersion. However, cyclopentanone selectivity was affected by TiO 2 properties, the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) effect, and the reaction conditions. The Pt/TiO 2 NR catalyst exhibited the highest cyclopentanone selectivity of 50.4%. Based on the H 2 -temperature programmed desorption (H 2 -TPD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results, the Pt/TiO 2 NR catalyst showed a SMSI effect, which was introduced by the chemical reduction method. We suggest that electron charge transfer from Ti species to Pt in the Pt/TiO 2 NR catalyst affects the cyclopentanone selectivity by controlling the adsorption strength between the reactant and the Pt surface, thus retarding the formation of byproducts.