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CC BY 4.0 · Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2025; 02: a25944775
DOI: 10.1055/a-2594-4775
Circular and Sustainable Biomass and CO2 Utilization
Review

Photocatalytic Hydrogenation of Biomass-Derived Model Molecules to Value-Added Chemicals

Rui Du
1   School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, PR China
,
Chao Zhang 
1   School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, PR China
› Author Affiliations
Funding Information This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22372029), Jilin province science and technology development plan (YDZJ202401334ZYTS), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2412022QD020, 2412022ZD055).
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Abstract

Given the global energy crisis and the environmental issues, it is essential to explore sustainable and renewable resources as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Biomass can efficiently generate a range of high value-added chemicals and fuels through catalytic hydrogenation. Biomass thermocatalytic hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation are effective, but some of the processes are energy-intensive, while photocatalytic hydrogenation reactions of biomass provide new opportunities for their environmental friendliness and cost effectiveness. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in the production of value-added chemicals from biomass-derived model molecules using photocatalytic hydrogenation and photocatalytic reactions involving active hydrogen. The advantages of photocatalytic technology and the mechanism of photocatalytic hydrogenation have been introduced in detail. Subsequently, the recent research process on the conversion of some typical model molecules is discussed. Then the types and constructions of the efficient photocatalyst, the influence of hydrogen source and solvent selection on the catalytic performance are summarized. Finally, the challenges and opportunities for the future photocatalytic hydrogenation of biomass are also proposed.

Keywords

Biomass - Selective hydrogenation - Photocatalysis - Hydrodeoxygenation - Metal-semiconductor catalyst


Publication History

Received: 30 January 2025

Accepted after revision: 31 March 2025

Accepted Manuscript online:
24 April 2025

Article published online:
21 May 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

Bibliographical Record
Rui Du, Chao Zhang. Photocatalytic Hydrogenation of Biomass-Derived Model Molecules to Value-Added Chemicals. Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2025; 02: a25944775.
DOI: 10.1055/a-2594-4775
 

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