Synthesis of hollow coral-like Al-MCM-41-C catalysts for efficiently decarboxylation of biomass-derived γ-valerolactone to butene

In this paper, the hollow coral-like ordered mesoporous MCM-41-C zeolites were synthesized by hydrothermal method, and their synthesis conditions were thoroughly investigated. Then, x wt%Al-MCM-41-C catalysts feature with hollow coral-like morphology were prepared by impregnation method, and used for the catalytic conversion of γ-valerolactone (GVL) to butene. The results showed that the introduction of Al species not only did not destroy the original special microscopic morphological structure of the MCM-41-C, but also co-existed on the surface and skeleton of the catalyst, resulting in a large number of weak acid sites. The optimal 7wt%Al-MCM-41-C catalyst has a specific surface area of 708.56 m 2 g −1 . The content of weak acid was 0.7262 mmol g −1 . At 300 °C, the GVL conversion and butene yield over the catalyst can reach 99.10% and 92.26%, respectively, within just 90 min of reaction. Meanwhile, the 7 wt%Al-MCM-41-C catalysts also demonstrated excellent catalytic cycle stability, and the butene yield remained above 90% after the 4th cycle.