Synergistic Effect of Fe and Zn Doping on Multimetallic Catalysts for the Catalytic Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

FeCoZn@NPC-600 catalyst was prepared by one-step pyrolysis using FeCoZn-ZIF as the precursor through multi-metal homogeneous doping and self-template conversion strategy, and it was used to catalyze the selective hydrogenation of furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL). The results showed that the FF conversion reached 100 % and the FOL selectivity was 97.34 %. Compared with FeCo@NPC-600 and CoZn@NPC-600, the FOL yield of FeCoZn@NPC-600 was increased by 11.2 and 2.2 times, respectively. The excellent catalytic performance is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of multiple metals in the catalyst. The doping of Fe and Zn enhanced the active Co(0) content and acid strength of FeCoZn@NPC-600, which promoted the activation of H-2 and FF. Meanwhile, The doping of Zn also optimizes the pore structure of the catalyst. The activity of FeCoZn@NPC-600 catalyst did not significantly decrease after repeated use for five times, mainly because the encapsulation of graphite carbon layer led to good cycleability.