The collaborative study conducted by the Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry (UHH), the Institute of Physical Chemistry (UHH), the Institute of Polymers and Composites (TUHH), Institute of Process Systems Engineering (TUHH), and the Institute of Thermal Separation Processes (TUHH) focuses on carbon nanotube supported metallic catalysts.
The researchers have synthesized and tested multiwall carbon nanotube (NC7000)-supported mono-, bi-, and trimetallic catalysts for glycerol hydrogenolysis to 1,2-propanediol at 220 °C and 30 bar H2, with extensive characterization used to correlate catalyst structure with activity and selectivity. Monometallic Ru showed the highest activity but very low selectivity to 1,2-PDO, while combining Ru with other metals, especially Cu, significantly improved selectivity, reaching up to 79% for the trimetallic RuIrCu2 catalyst. With the help of data-driven modeling, an optimized RuCu3/NC7000 catalyst achieved the best balance of performance with 78% activity, 79% selectivity, and a 58% 1,2-PDO yield with a nearly closed carbon balance (>95%).
Dominique Lumpp, Samrin Shaikh, Fabian Riebesehl, Charlotte Ruhmlieb, Kai Kruber, Baldur Schroeter, Irina Smirnova, Mirko Skiborowski, Bodo Fiedler, Jakob Albert (2026). Multifunctional Carbon-Nanotube Supported Catalyst for Efficient Glycerol Hydrogenolysis to 1,2-propanediol. ChemCatChem 18 (5), e01748.
