A novel Ru–polyethersulfone (PES) catalytic membrane for highly efficient and selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

Abstract

A novel catalytic membrane has been synthesised, characterised and evaluated for the selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol. Unlike conventional methods, involving high pressure and high H₂ : feed ratios, this work proposes an innovative ruthenium based Catalytic Membrane Reactor (CMR) to overcome mass transfer limitations, resulting in low H₂ requirements, high catalytic activity and high selectivity towards furfuryl alcohol. A UV-curable hydrophilic anionic monomer acrylic acid was used as a coating material on a commercial PES membrane and subsequently Ru nanoparticles were added. The hydrogenation of furfural was carried out in a customised catalytic membrane reactor under mild conditions: 70 °C and 7 bar, exhibiting high catalytic activity towards furfuryl alcohol (selectivity >99%) with turnover frequency (TOF) as high as 48 000 h⁻¹, 2 orders of magnitude higher than those obtained so far.