Cu‐incorporated MgAl LDH Catalyst for Enhanced Bio‐ethanol Upgrading to Butanol

Abstract The catalytic conversion of bio‐ethanol to butanol is a pivotal reaction for producing renewable fuels and chemicals from non‐edible biomass. Developing non‐noble metal‐based catalysts that exhibit high activity and stability is of great importance, yet remains a substantial challenge. Herein, Cu/LDH catalyst (Cu supported on MgAl layered double hydroxide), was synthesized via simple impregnation without further calcination, and demonstrated for the activity enhancement of ethanol‐to‐butanol reaction with superior conversion/yield than previous reports of LDH‐derived materials. The catalytic activity of Cu/LDH‐150(Red) catalyst is attributed to the interaction between Cu and LDH, induced by the pre‐reduction during synthesis. It has been further revealed that the Cu species provides redox sites for dehydrogenation/hydrogenation reactions, promoting the critical initial reaction step ethanol dehydrogenation to acetaldehyde. And pre‐reduction of Cu/LDH catalyst facilitates the reduction of Cu 2+ to Cu 0 /Cu + and promotes the incorporation of Cu into the interlayer of LDH, as evidenced by XPS and mechanistic validation with acetaldehyde feed, responsible for the activity enhancement.