Production of precursors for sustainable aviation fuels through furfural/ cyclopentanone aldol condensation boosted by TiO2-loaded dendritic ZSM-5 catalysts

This study reports the catalytic performance of dendritic ZSM-5 (d-ZSM-5) catalysts in the aldol condensation ofcyclopentanone (CPO) and furfural (FFL), two biomass-derived molecules used to produce sustainable aviationfuel precursors. The dendritic architecture of ZSM-5 provides it with enhanced accessibility and textural features,including a large external surface area, high pore volume, and interconnected porosity. These are key parametersin the CPO/FFL aldol condensation due to the large molecular size of the products (FC and F2C) regarding theMFI micropore dimensions. In this way, and compared with a reference nanocrystalline ZSM-5 sample, thedendritic zeolite exhibited quite superior conversion and better selectivity towards the targeted condensationproducts across a wide range of CPO/FFL molar ratios (1/2 to 10/1). Likewise, the rational modification ofdendritic ZSM-5 with TiO2 is explored for the first time, showing how this strategy significantly enhances thecatalytic activity by providing an optimal balance of Brønsted and Lewis acidity and achieving a high dispersionof this metal oxide. Thus, the best catalyst (5 wt% TiO2/d-ZSM-5) reaches 93 % FFL conversion and 92 %selectivity to FC + F2C. These findings highlight TiO2-modified dendritic zeolites as promising, reusable catalystsfor upgrading biomass platform molecules into advanced aviation biofuel precursors.