Water assisted formaldehyde-containing chemicals refining with easily separable methanol over Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst

Water assisted formaldehyde-containing chemicals refining with easily separable methanol over Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst

•A green strategy was developed for the separation/removal of formaldehyde from formaldehyde-containing chemicals.•Formaldehyde was self-sufficiently converted to easily separable methanol.•The formaldehyde removal mechanism/pathway was investigated.•Water assists the generation of in situ hydrogen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Separation and purification technology Vol. 334; p. 126027
Main Authors: Cheng, Shubin, Lei, Qian, Deng, Coner, Lei, Weixin, Chen, Honglin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 14-04-2024
Subjects:
Copper
Dioxolane refining
Formaldehyde removal
In situ hydrogen
Methanol
In situ hydrogen
Dioxolane refining
Formaldehyde removal
Copper
Methanol
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Summary:•A green strategy was developed for the separation/removal of formaldehyde from formaldehyde-containing chemicals.•Formaldehyde was self-sufficiently converted to easily separable methanol.•The formaldehyde removal mechanism/pathway was investigated.•Water assists the generation of in situ hydrogen for free formaldehyde.•The in situ hydrogen can be transferred into unsaturated compounds. A green protocol for refining industrial chemicals containing formaldehyde (FA) impurities is presented here for the first time. FA, as an unreactant or a byproduct, causes separation problems in many industrial processes. It can be removed to a level of less than 1 ppm with easily separable methanol formation using commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst at atmospheric pressure in the absence of external hydrogen. The formation of methanol is achieved by the transfer of hydrogen species generated with the assistance of water to free FA, affording high methanol selectivity (62 %). By investigating potential intermediates and implementing deuterium labeling experiments, together with carbon and hydrogen balance calculations, a plausible pathway of water-assisted FA removal is proposed. Moreover, the in situ generated hydrogen species can be transferred directly into unsaturated compounds for selective reduction.
ISSN:1383-5866
1873-3794
DOI:10.1016/j.seppur.2023.126027