Characterization and Performance of Supported Noble Metal (Pt) on the Production of Levulinic Acid from Cellulose

Platinum (Pt), a noble metal, is known for its ability to regenerate and be recycled even without any reactivation procedure, and still demonstrated good stability. The cost of the noble metal can be reduced by incorporating the metal into the pores of catalyst support rather than using it individually. Hence, in this research study, 4 wt.% Pt supported on silica-alumina (SiO2-Al2O3) and gamma-alumina (γ-Al2O3) was synthesized using wet impregnation method, then followed by catalyst calcination at 500 °C. The catalyst was then characterized using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and particle size analyzer where catalyst with high surface area and pore volume demonstrated an excellent performance for the catalytic reaction of cellulose. Experimental results showed that catalyst Pt/SiO2-Al2O3 with the highest surface area and pore volume (466.4 m2/g and 0.1157 cm3/g, respectively) exhibited the highest catalytic performance with the conversion of cellulose up to 65.8% and 30.9% levulinic acid (LA) yield produced at the reaction temperature of 200 °C in a semi-batch reactor for 8 hrs.