Improving Selectivity to 1,3-Propanediol for Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Using W- and Al-Incorporated SBA-15 as Support for Pt Nanoparticles

Tungsten and aluminum were directly incorporated into SBA-15 via one-step synthesis method under an acidic medium. The W- and Al-incorporated SBA-15 was applied as support for Pt nanoparticles to catalyze glycerol hydrogenolysis toward 1,3-propanediol. A combination of the characterization techniques showed that the tungsten and aluminum were incorporated into SBA-15 homogeneously, and the platinum nanoparticles could be uniformly dispersed on the modified-SBA-15. The catalytic performance of Pt-loaded SBA-15 could be significantly improved after the incorporation of tungsten and aluminum into SBA-15, reaching a 1,3-PDO selectivity near 50% when the glycerol conversion was 66%. The glycerol hydrogenolysis reaction proceeds through a dehydration–hydrogenation process, and the enhanced 1,3-PDO selectivity greatly benefited from the synergism between Brønsted acid and Lewis acid sites, which is tightly related with the incorporation of tungsten and aluminum species on the modified SBA-15.