Fe-Ni Bimetallic Nanoparticles Encapsulated into Nanofibrous Carbon Microspheres As a Catalytic Nanoreactor for Highly Selective Hydrogenation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-Dihydroxymethylfuran or 2,5-Dihydroxymethyltetrahydrofuran

Background: The highly efficient conversion of renewable biomass-derived platform compounds to high value-added chemicals is one of the most promising solution to the current rapid consumption of fossil resources.Methods: Nanofibrous and porous carbon microspheres (NPCMs) were developed from chitin biomass and used to encapsulate Fe-Ni bimetallic nanoparticles for the formation of a novel catalytic nanoreactor (Fe-Ni/NPCMs), which was then used for the selective hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-dihydroxymethyl-furan (DHMF) or 2,5-dihydroxymethyltetrahydrofuran (DHMTHF).Significant findings: The NPCMs consisted of N-doped carbon nanofibers with a high surface area. The Fe-Ni bimetallic nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the carbon nanofiber surfaces of the Fe-Ni/NPCMs, resulting in abundant catalytic sites and excellent catalytic performance. Importantly, the Fe-Ni/NPCMs showed highly-selective hydrogenation of HMF to DHMF or DHMTHF with high yields of 93.6% or 94.9% through simply modulating the reaction conditions. Increasing the zero valent iron (Fe0) content in the Fe-Ni/ NPCMs significantly promoted the DHMTH selectivity from HMF hydrogenation. Moreover, the Fe-Ni/NPCMs presented high stability and recyclability, and thus they are applicable to other biomass conversions. There-fore, Fe-Ni/NPCMs have promising industrial application in the production of high value-added chemicals from biomass-derived feed-stocks.