Biowaste-derived bimetallic Ru-MoO_x catalyst for the direct hydrogenation of furfural to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol

A synergistic effect normally exists in bimetallic catalysts, which can greatly improve the catalytic performance in comparison with monometallic catalysts. However, the N-doped carbon-supported bimetallic catalysts, especially for noble-based bimetallic catalysts prepared by one-pot pyrolysis at high temperatures are scarcely reported. Herein, a novel sustainable Ru-MoO_x bimetallic catalyst was successfully prepared by one-pot pyrolysis of biowaste (chitin) and metal salts, which exhibited great improvement in catalytic activity and could be stable up to 5 cycles for the direct hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA). On the basis of series of catalyst characterizations, it was found that there was a strong interaction between Ru and MoO_x particles, behaving as the main contributor to the enhanced catalytic performance.