Dariusz Swierczynski

In this work, high surface area mono- and binary oxide materials based on zirconia and titania synthetized via the alginate route were applied as supports of ruthenium catalysts used in levulinic acid hydrogenation towards γ–valerolactone. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were investigated using surface (like time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)) and bulk techniques (temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD)). The obtained results exhibited that the proposed synthesis method allows for modification of the shape, morphology, and surface properties of the studied materials. These catalysts were tested in levulinic acid hydrogenation, in which catalytic support is known to be crucial. The results revealed that the titania-supported catalyst was the most active in the reaction mentioned above, while the highest mechanical stability was observed for zirconia-supported materials.

An original two‐step process efficiently catalyzed by functionalized mesoporous materials is proposed as a potential route for converting light olefins into long‐chain hydrocarbons in the distillate range. In the first step, ethylene can be selectively transformed into C₄–C₁₀ olefins with an even number of carbon atoms, over nickel‐exchanged AlMCM‐41, at 150 °C. When the nickel‐catalyzed oligomerization was assisted by a second acid‐catalyzed step over H‐MCM‐41, olefins with chains longer than 10 carbon atoms were mainly produced with a productivity of 180 g g⁻¹ h⁻¹.