Copper Supported on Hybrid C@SiO₂ Hollow Submicron Spheres as Active Ethanol Dehydrogenation Catalyst

Abstract The dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde (DHEA) is an environmentally benign alternative for synthetic chemistry and for the fine chemical industry. The key is to design Cu‐based catalysts with certain structures to obtain high acetaldehyde selectivity. Herein, hybrid C@SiO₂ hollow submicron spheres were designed and synthesized using a confined pyrolysis method. This hybrid structure processes a layer of carbon‐silica hybrid shell. After loading the Cu, the Cu/C@SiO₂ catalyst exhibited 36.1% conversion of ethanol and ∼99% acetaldehyde selectivity at 260 °C. The hybrid support combined the two favorable properties of carbon and silica and thus improving both selectivity and stability.