Selective direct conversion of aqueous ethanol into butadiene via rational design of multifunctional catalysts

Research on multifunctional catalysts for direct transformation of high-purity ethanol to butadiene has made some progress. However, the direct conversion of aqueous ethanol to butadiene (AETB) with high activity and butadiene selectivity, a very promising route for butadiene production, is still a considerable challenge. Here, we report a highly efficient multifunctional Y-ZnZr/Si-beta catalyst for the direct AETB conversion, and it exhibits an outstanding ethanol conversion of 80.2% and butadiene selectivity of 60.4%. The characterization results reveal that the rationally designed Y-ZnZr/Si-beta catalyst has synergy of each active sites and suitable balance of acid properties, which can promote the conversion of ethanol and the production of butadiene. Importantly, the experimental results prove that the rational coupling of various active sites plays a key role in significantly boosting the catalytic performance towards butadiene production. Moreover, the Y-ZnZr/Si-beta catalyst exhibits excellent regeneration ability. This work offers a promising catalytic design for direct AETB conversion.