Flex-C-Cat – Sustainable Carbon Support Materials for Current and Future Catalytic Hydrogenation

To ensure a sustainable provision of fuels and chemical products, catalysis using hydrogen derived from renewable energies (e.g., solar and wind energy electrolysis) will be of decisive importance in the conversion of CO₂ and biomass (e.g., from waste) into liquid energy carriers, platform chemicals, and materials. Against this background, the “Flex-C Cat” project concerns the optimization of the characteristics of biomass-derived carbon materials as solid support materials for catalytic hydrogenation. Using a scalable low-temperature HTC approach (HTC = hydrothermal carbonization) for the conversion of biomass, the synthesis of different porous carbons is possible. This provides scope for optimization of catalyst support properties for a specific catalytic application (e.g., hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone in the aqueous phase).

Based on the low temperature HTC of biomass, the generated material products of the “Flex-C-Cat” project can be described as carbon-like and functional. Simple control mechanisms (e.g., synthesis temperature) offer scope to control and direct the properties of these carbon-based support materials. The porosity and morphology of the material can also be influenced using different approaches developed by the group without changing the physico-chemical characteristics. This represents a significant advantage in catalyst design, as this flexibility is not easily achieved in industrial inorganic or carbon-containing catalyst carrier preparation. The objective of the project is the development of important structure-activity relationships to enable direction and optimization of hydrogenation catalyst performance. The project aims to produce iteratively improved and increasingly efficient catalysts that function under less capital-intensive conditions and provide opportunities to improve performance of more abundant non-precious metals – important economic and safety factors relevant for today's and future industrial hydrogenation catalysis. The Flex-C-Cat” project will develop “non-classical” carbon-based materials as catalyst supports, intended to close the gap between current inorganic and carbon-based materials currently used in industrial catalysis. The intended catalyst development and applications will link natural and anthropogenic carbon cycles to produce industrial assets and valuable products via the conversion of biomass and CO₂ – a synergetic contribution to sustainable energy storage and supply of market relevant chemical products and materials.