A minireview on solid acid catalysts for dehydration of bioethanol to renewable ethylene: An update on catalysts development progress

Abstract

Bioethanol is a biomass-derived green feedstock that can be converted to renewable ethylene via dehydration reaction to replace fossil-derived ethylene. In this contribution, we highlight and discuss the recent developments achieved in designing and applying various catalytic materials for converting bioethanol to bioethylene via an acid-catalyzed dehydration reaction process. We elaborate on the critical problems associated with the bioethanol to bioethylene process performance (i.e. catalytic activity conversion, selectivity, and stability) that are induced by the catalysts' properties such as acidity, composition, hydrophobicity, size, shape, porosity, corrosivity, durability and recyclability for aspirational practical industrial application. The work highlighted herein reports a stimulative insight for further developments in catalytic dehydration of bioethanol to bioethylene to achieve a sustainable and green process.