Capping Agent, Solvent, and Nanoparticle Interactions: Driving Selectivity for Biomass Transformations

It is well-established that tailoring the structural properties of nanoparticles, for example, their size, shape, available active surface, and interaction with metal oxide supports, imparts significant control on catalytic transformations. However, this often relies on the use of stabilizing (capping) agents. These capping agents, predominantly long chain, or bulky polymers, are not benign and also influence the catalytic performance. In this study, we expand on the use of surfactant-controlled reaction pathways for the hydrogenation of furfural on Pd/TiO2. In particular, the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on the methanol prepared catalysts, shifts product selectivity for furfural hydrogenation to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA), resulting from restricted diffusion away from the Pd nanoparticle surface. Furthermore, we demonstrate how solid-state NMR is able to study the surfactant-catalyst interaction and how these can be correlated to the selectivity profile for furfural hydrogenation.