Zirconium-doped enhanced the biomass hydrodeoxygenation over extremely low-loaded Pd catalysts

Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is regarded as a promising technology for the efficient conversion of biomass to renewable biofuel and chemicals, while it still remains the challenge in rational construction of cost-effective catalysts. Herein, we investigated the effect of oxyphilic metals (Zr/La/Mo) doping on the structure and performance of the extremely low-loaded Pd-based catalysts. The surface morphology, acidity and electronic character of Pd-M/BC catalysts could be regulated due to the electrophilic effect between oxyphilic metals and Pd. Compared with other catalysts, Pd-0.25%-Zr-1.0%/BC catalyst with 0.25% Pd loading showed excellent activity with > 91.5% yield of 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (MMP) for the vanillin HDO at 65 degrees C for 2 h. Zr-doping improves the acidity and generates rich oxygen vacancies on the extremely low-loaded Pd-based catalysts, which facilitates the fracture of C-O bond in biomass derivatives.