Recently developed methods to enhance stability of heterogeneous catalysts for conversion of biomass-derived feedstocks

Many processes for the conversion of biomass and its derivatives into value-added products (e.g., fuels and chemicals) use heterogeneous catalysts. However, the catalysts often suffer from deactivation under harsh reaction conditions, such as liquid phase at high temperatures and pressures. The catalyst deactivation is a big obstacle to developing industrially relevant biomass conversion processes, including leaching, sintering, and poisoning of metals and collapse of catalyst support. Different approaches have been applied to limit the reversible and irreversible deactivation, highly associated with the kind of catalyst, reactants, reaction conditions, etc. This review presents recent advances in strategies to stabilize heterogeneous catalysts against deactivation for biomass conversion reactions. Copyright © 2018 Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers, Seoul, Korea.