High-throughput development of highly active catalyst system to convert bioethanol to 1,3-butadiene

Herein, we describe the development of highly active catalysts for the conversion of ethanol to 1,3-butadiene using high-throughput catalyst preparation and evaluation systems. Assuming a two-stage reactor for converting ethanol to acetaldehyde and ethanol/acetaldehyde to 1,3-butadiene, we conducted rapid screening for the optimal catalyst for each reaction. We found that using Ag/SiO2 and HfO2/SiO2 as catalysts in the first- and second-stage reactors, respectively, resulted in high 1,3-butadiene productivity (99% ethanol conversion and 63% 1,3-butadiene selectivity).