Engineering metal–support interactions of ceria-supported cobalt catalysts for durable hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone

Abstract

The hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to γ-valerolactone (GVL) represents a critical route for biomass valorization, yet catalyst deactivation remains a major challenge. Herein, we engineer metal–support interaction (MSI) in ceria-supported cobalt catalysts (xCoCe) by tuning the cobalt loadings (0.5–5 wt%) to achieve durable and efficient LA upgrading. The optimized 1CoCe catalyst exhibits 100% yield of GVL and a stability of 900 h in continuous operation, surpassing the performance of reported non-precious metal catalysts. Investigations, including XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and H₂-TPR, reveal that 1CoCe possesses higher contents of both Co²⁺ and oxygen vacancies, which enhance the MSI effects that guarantee catalyst stability. This study highlights MSI modulation as a versatile strategy for designing non-precious metal catalysts and advancing scalable and sustainable biomass conversion technologies.