Halloysite Nanotubes Templated Acid-Base Bi-functional Hollow Polymeric Solids for Select Conversion of Cellulose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural

Due to its excellent catalytic performance, low production of waste and easy recyclability, heterogeneous catalysts employed for conversion of cellulose to HMF have been drawn wide attention in recent years. In this work, precipitation polymerization methodology, subsequent template remove, and the sulfonation technique are combined to synthesis hollow polymeric solid catalysts with tunable acid-base bi-functional sites. By simply varying the parameters of precipitation polymerization, the acid and base strengths can be easily adjusted. The catalytic performances of synthesized catalysts were evaluated for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) production from cellulose conversion in ionic liquid of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]-Cl). And 41.63% of HMF yield can be obtained under the optional conditions. Furthermore, catalyst can be easily recovered and reused at least five times without significant loss of activity. This research opens up a versatile method to synthesize multifunctional catalyst for excellent conversion of one-pot cellulose to HMF.