Highly Active, Selective, and Stable CoNi Alloy Anchored on Hollow Mesoporous Silica for Furfural Hydrogenation to Tetrahydrofurfuryl Alcohol under Mild Conditions

Efficient hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) under mild conditions using non-noble-metal catalysts remains challenging because it requires the hydrogenation of both the carbonyl group and the furan ring. In this work, a CoNi alloy confined within hollow mesoporous silica spheres (CoNi@hw-mSiO2) was developed as an efficient catalyst for FAL hydrogenation. Comprehensive characterization results demonstrate the successful formation of a CoNi alloy with strong electronic interactions, which is uniformly dispersed within the hollow mesoporous framework. Under mild conditions (100 °C, 2 MPa H2, 2 h), CoNi@hw-mSiO2 achieved a THFA yield of 96.2% with excellent recyclability. The outstanding performance is attributed to the electronic synergy of the CoNi alloy and the structural advantages of the hollow mesoporous structure. The CoNi alloy provides favorable active sites for the sequential hydrogenation of the C═O and C═C bonds, while the hollow structure helps stabilize active species, suppresses metal migration and leaching, and facilitates efficient mass transfer. This work demonstrates an effective strategy for designing efficient non-noble-metal catalysts for biomass hydrogenation.