Deactivation mechanisms of copper chromite (CuCr2O4�CuO) catalyst for vapor phase selective hydrogenation for furfuryl alcohol have been investigated using ex-situ and in-situ x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), x-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). At 200�C, the catalyst steadily deactivated. One of the dominant origins of catalyst deactivation is poisoning due to strong adsorption of polymeric species formed from the reactant and/or products. Metallic Cu is identified as the active site, while loss of active Cu (I) sites due to hydrogenation is not a deactivation cause, as opposed to previous literature reported.  The copper chromite catalyst showed low activity at 300�C process temperature. Under this condition, the Cu particle size does not change, but Cr/Cu ratio increases by 50%, suggesting that Cr coverage of Cu sites becomes an additional cause of catalyst deactivation at this temperature, along with the poisoning deactivation mechanism at 200�C.

Deactivation mechanistic studies of copper chromite catalyst for selective hydrogenation of 2-furfuraldehyde

245th National Meeting (2013)

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