Titania nanoparticles embedded in functionalized carbon for the aqueous phase oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Titania nanoparticles have huge potential due to their low cost, easy preparation, separation and high catalytic application. As-synthesized titania nanoparticles embedded at the functionalized acidic carbon act as effective heterogeneous catalyst for the selective oxidation of 5-hydroxylmethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) in water. It was found that the doping of Ti (IV) with sulfonated carbon improve the catalytic effectiveness of resulting materials. The oxidation reaction and selectivity of the oxidation products, DFF, FDCA and FFCA were monitored by use of oxygen through manometric apparatus and a GC chromatogram. Titania nanoparticles embedded at the functionalized carbon gave higher selectivity for DFF (88% yield) under 1 atmospheric pressure of 02 at 70 degrees C. The catalyst was characterized by the XPS, XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, FTIR and Raman spectroscopic techniques. The characterization data reveal the presence of the acid sites and titania in +4 oxidation state. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.