Collaborative Research: Zeolite catalysts for biomass upgrading

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

Manufacturing of plastics and other industrial chemicals depends on key chemical building blocks sourced primarily from petroleum and natural gas feedstocks. Increasingly, renewable resources such as biomass are used to make the same product or drop-in substitutes. This biomass is typically made up of crop residues or purposely grown plants that are not competitors for food agriculture. Current biobased chemicals such as hydoxymethylfurfural, furfural, and their derivatives are promising drop-in replacements for chemicals made from fossil fuels and have been identified as top platform chemicals from biorefining processes. This research project studies the manufacture of these biomass-derived platform chemicals using catalysts that can promote higher product yields and a lower environmental footprint. Parallel objectives of this project are to integrate the research activities with education and outreach programs to provide significant educational opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate education levels and to the general public. The educational outreach includes a joint course between Montana State University and the Colorado School of Mines designed as website modules and Skype-based lectures. The results of this project are being disseminated to the scientific community and implemented in course material lectures to benefit the student body at both institutions. The central theme of this collaborative project is to demonstrate that rationally designing nanocrystalline zeolites with tailored properties can lead to effective catalysts exhibiting high catalytic activity for biomass and sugar conversion into commercially useful platform chemicals. The specific objectives of this work are to: (1) develop chemical synthesis strategies to rationally design nanocrystalline zeolite catalysts, (2) understand the basic formation mechanisms governing the transformation of precursor solutions into zeolites, (3) evaluate catalytic performance of nanocrystalline zeolite catalysts for the catalytic conversion of sugars and biomass into furfural and derivatives, and (4) elucidate fundamental structure/catalytic relationships of microporous nanocrystalline catalysts in the conversion of sugars into hydoxymethylfurfural, furfural, and their derivatives. This fundamental research ties understanding of synthesis conditions to properties of the zeolite, including crystal size distribution, pore size, surface area and acid site distribution, to catalytic activity and to product yield of targeted dehydration products. The research also aims to establish novel self-assembly concepts as general synthesis methods for a broad range of zeolite catalysts that will have tunable properties and convert biomass into industrial relevant chemicals.