Catalysis

Engineering

Hydrogenolysis

Mesoporous material

Yield (engineering)

Metallurgy

Materials science

Cellulose

Chemical engineering

Cellulosic ethanol

Waste management

One-pot synthesis

Tandem

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Biofuel

Bioconversion

Composite material

Ethylene

Chemistry

Ethanol fuel

Ethylene glycol

Fermentation

Ethanol

Joule

Cellulosic ethanol is one of the most important biofuels, yet its commercial production is hindered by the low-efficiency and high-cost bioconversion process. Here, we report a new chemocatalytic approach for the one-pot production of cellulosic ethanol. With a multifunctional Mo/Pt/WOx catalyst, cellulose is directly converted to ethanol in a one-pot reaction with a yield as high as 43.2 C%. Kinetic analysis reveals that such a one-pot process involves tandem catalysis from cellulose to ethylene glycol (rapid) followed by hydrogenolysis of ethylene glycol to ethanol (slow). Characterizations show that isolated and low-coordinated MoOx bonds to metallic Pt particles on the mesoporous WOx support, constituting xOMo–Pt–WOx interfacial sites, which offer high activity for C–O cleavage of ethylene glycol.

One-Pot Production of Cellulosic Ethanol via Tandem Catalysis over a Multifunctional Mo/Pt/WOx Catalyst