Molybdenum incorporated mesoporous silica catalyst for production of biofuels and value-added chemicals via catalytic fast pyrolysis

Production of value-added furans and phenols from biomass through catalytic fast pyrolysis of pine using molybdenum supported on KIT-5 mesoporous silica was explored. Catalysts containing different loadings of molybdenum were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, physisorption and chemisorption analysis, various electron microscopic techniques and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Characterization studies indicate that molybdenum is homogeneously distributed over the KIT-5 silica support in a +6 oxidation state. Fast pyrolysis of pine using molecular beam mass spectrometry with fresh Mo catalyst preferentially produced furans and phenols over conventionally observed aromatic hydrocarbons. Detailed investigation of model biopolymers indicates that the furans originated from the carbohydrate portion of the biomass and the phenols emerged predominantly from the lignin portion of biomass. Results obtained from MBMS were complemented using pyrolytic-GCMS.