Author(s)

Qing Xu¹, JunMing Liang^1,2,3, DongYan Zhang^2,3, ShengPeng Xia^2,3, AnQing Zheng^2,3*, Kun Zhao^2,3, ZengLi Zhao^2,3

Affiliation(s)

¹School of Mechanical Engineering, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, Guangdong, China.

²Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, Guangdong, China.

³Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High-Quality Recycling of End-of-Life New Energy Devices, Guangzhou 510640, Guangdong, China.

Corresponding Author

AnQing Zheng

ABSTRACT

Light aromatics, including benzene, toluene, and xylene, are essential chemical feedstocks, traditionally produced via catalytic reforming of petroleum fractions. Due to the depletion of fossil resources, lignocellulose has attracted considerable interest as a renewable carbon source. Furans as key platform molecules can be catalyzed into aromatics over zeolites; however, their application is often limited by low selectivity and catalyst deactivation from coke. In this work, a co-pyrolysis approach using 2-methylfuran and methanol was developed to enhance aromatic production. Methanol served both as a heat-releasing agent during the aromatization process and as a hydrogen donor due to its high effective hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, promoting a synergistic effect with furan compounds, enhancing aromatization efficiency. Hierarchical HZSM-5 modified with Ga, Zn, Mo, and W were synthesized and characterized using various characterization techniques to correlate pore structure and acidity with product distribution. It is found that W-modified HZSM-5 can further improve the carbon yield of aromatics (70.62%), while other metal modifications resulted in decreased performance due to reduced acidity and pore blockage, accompanied by increased coke formation. This strategy provides new insight into the efficient catalytic conversion of biomass-derived platform molecules into high-value aromatics.

KEYWORDS

2-Methylfuran; Methanol; Zeolite; Co-pyrolysis; Light aromatic

CITE THIS PAPER

Qing Xu, JunMing Liang, DongYan Zhang, ShengPeng Xia, AnQing Zheng, Kun Zhao, ZengLi Zhao. Co-pyrolysis of biomass-based furan and methanol to light aromatics over modified hierarchical zeolites. Frontiers in Environmental Research. 2025, 3(2): 28-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/fer3027.

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