Liquid phase oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural with bimetallic Co-Cu supported on activated carbon catalyst

Recently, the selective oxidation of 2,5–furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has attracted much attention. FDCA has been considered as a monomer for bio–based polymers production, especially polyethylene furanoate (PEF). To improve the efficiency and cost-effective in FDCA production, this research focuses on the liquid phase 5–HMF oxidation with non-noble bimetallic catalyst. The cobalt and copper bimetallic catalyst supported on commercial activated carbon (Co–Cu/AC) was prepared with different ratios of Co:Cu (1:1 to 4:1). The reaction was carried out with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as liquid oxidizing agent and autogenous pressure. Besides, the effect of reaction conditions including reaction temperature (110–170C), reaction time (3–9 h), catalyst loading (5–15 wt.%) on catalyst performance were investigated. Moreover, instead of reducing catalyst under a flowing H2, the catalyst was reduced by hydrazine hydrate 99 % (N2H4OH) at 95C for 1 h in this work. The 4Co–Cu/AC catalyst yielded FDCA up to 92 % at the condition of HMF/catalyst of 10 wt.%, reaction temperature of 170C and reaction time of 9 h which was closely yield obtaining from noble metal catalyst and conventional air–oxidation process.