Perspectives on Multifunctional Catalysts Derived from Layered Double Hydroxides toward Upgrading Reactions of Biomass Resources

Heterogeneous upgrading reactions serve as a promising and pivotal strategy for efficient utilization of biomass resources for chemical energy, fuel, and hydrogen, in which supported catalysts play a key role in determining catalytic activity and selectivity for desirable products. Biomass is the only renewable organic carbon resource in nature, and its conversion (e.g., hydrogenation, hydrodeoxygenation, oxidation, alkylation, halogenation, or nitration) to a variety of chemical intermediates and feedstocks has attracted increasing attention in fundamental investigations and industrial productions. The efficiency of heterogeneous catalysts in the above catalytic conversion highly rests with the properties of metals, supports, and additives, as well as reactors and reaction conditions (solvent, pressure, and temperature). Recently, multifunctional catalysts derived from layered double hydroxides (LDHs) precursors have displayed outstanding catalytic performance, which made a great contribution to the development on high-value upgrading reactions of biomass resources. The elaborate regulation of surface and interface structure, geometric and electronic structure, defect and coordination structure of catalysts via tuning the chemical composition, structural architecture, and topotactic transformation process of LDHs precursors imposes a significant influence on the resulting catalytic behavior. Moreover, the detailed investigations on structure-property relationship by virtue of comprehensive studies provide innovative strategies for the synthesis of high-efficiency LDHs-derived catalysts with desirable characteristics. In this Perspective, on the basis of achievement in the representative studies, we put forward some suggestions and prospects for upgrading reactions of biomass resources in the future.