Abstract:

1,2-propanediol was prepared by hydrogenolysis of glycerol in two steps. Firstly，glycerol was dehydrated over bi-functional catalyst Cu/SiO₂ into acetol，which was in turn hydrogenated into 1,2-propanediol over the same catalyst. The catalyst Cu/ SiO₂ was prepared，by the coprecipitation method. The catalyst preparation was simple，of low cost，and environmentally friendly. The prepared catalyst was characterized with BET and XRD. The result indicated that the prepared catalyst had comparatively high activity. The best conversion（>96%）and selectivity（>96%）performance of the catalyst was achieved when the Cu loading amount was 10%. This bi-functional catalyst possessed acid site and metal active site as well. The particle size of Cu was the major factor to influence the activity of the catalyst. Deactivation of the catalyst was attributed to interaction of the copper species on the catalyst surface and the carrier，which caused aggregation of the active species.