Ruben Ramos Velarde

• PhD
• Research Associate at University of Porto

Methane has a rather relevant role in the “Power-to-Gas” concept, which is central in the current paradigm of climate change and renewable energies. Methane, the main component of natural gas, can be produced by catalytic hydrogenation reactions, particularly of CO2. A very effective catalyst in this reaction, hydrotalcite-derived nickel nanopartic...

The versatility of several N-doped biochar-supported metal catalysts (M/N-BioC) derived from vineyard pruning waste, to promote circular bioeconomy, was evaluated in catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of furfural (FF), electrocatalytic oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER). The CTH of FF to prepare high valuable chemicals was p...

Biochar (BCH) is a carbon-based bio-material produced from thermochemical conversion of biomass. Several activation or functionalization methods are usually used to improve physicochemical and functional properties of BCHs. In the context of green and sustainable future development, activated and functionalized biochars with abundant surface functi...

The formation of cyclopentenones from biomass derivatives has been developed by reacting furfurals with secondary amines using Lewis acid catalysis under batch conditions. The challenge of scaling up these processes leads to the development of a continuous flow procedure for the preparation of trans-4,5-diamino-cyclopentenones using silica-supporte...

In this work, a series of novel -SO3H functionalized biochar materials were prepared and investigated for the first time as catalysts for the production of fuel additive ethyl levulinate (EL) from biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). The employed biochar was directly produced from vineyard pruning wastes by a simple hydrothermal treatment...

The hydrogenation of furfural by catalytic hydrogen transfer to produce furfuryl alcohol has been investigated over a series of mixed oxides derived from hydrotalcite catalysts. Three different catalysts containing Ni, Co and Zn phases on an Al‐rich amorphous support were synthesized and characterised. The catalytic performances were evaluated in a...

Conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in water to the linear diketone derivatives 1-hydroxyhexane-2,5-dione (HHD) and 2,5-hexanedione (HXD) was investigated over a series of Beta zeolite-supported transition metal catalysts (Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Pd). Their catalytic performance was tested in a batch stirred reactor (T = 110 °C, PH2 = 20 bar) with...

Featured Application Through the coprecipitation of acidic polymers with silica and subsequent metal doping of the obtained acid composite, novel and bifunctional metal polymer–silica composite catalysts with tunable acidic and redox properties were to be obtained. In the hydrodeoxygenation of 4-(2-furyl)-3-buten-2-one, a relevant platform chemical...

The production of C8 linear diols from a furfural-acetone condensation product has been achieved for the first time using a non-noble metal based catalyst. In particular, SBA-15 supported Ni–Cu bimetallic catalyst showed the best hydrogenating activity reaching an outstanding yield (ca. 63%) of the fully saturated product. The incorporation of acid...

The production of cyclopentanone derivatives from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) using non-noble metal based catalysts is reported for the first time. Five different mixed oxides containing Ni, Cu, Co, Zn and Mg phases on an Al-rich amorphous support were prepared and characterised (XRD, ICP, SEM, TEM, H-2-TPR, NH3/CO2-TPD and N-2 sorption). The syn...

The catalytic conversion of rapeseed oil has been investigated using Ga- and Zn-modified nanocrystalline HZSM-5 zeolite for the production of hydrocarbons that could be used as both raw chemicals and/or fuels. The reactions have been carried out in a fixed bed reactor operating under nitrogen at 550 °C and atmospheric pressure. The incorporation of...

The solvent effects on hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of 4-(2-furyl)-3-buten-2-one (F-Ac) over Pt/TiO2 catalyst were investigated at T = 200 °C and P(H2) = 50 bar. The initial reactant is the main product of aldol condensation between furfural and acetone, which constitutes a promising route for the production of bio-based chemicals and fuels. A sequence...

Nanosized TiO2 catalyst was successfully prepared by a simple green procedure and used in liquid phase aldol condensation of furfural with acetone, a key step in bio-fuel processing. In order to determine the effect of calcination temperature on catalytic properties of TiO2, the as-prepared TiO2 and calcined TiO2 (150–900 °C) were studied by XRD, B...

Aiming at the valorisation of furfural-derived compounds, the hydrodeoxygenation of furfural–acetone condensation products has been studied using supported platinum catalysts. The influence of the catalytic properties of different supports, such as SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, hydrotalcite (HTC), Beta zeolite, Al-SBA-15 and WO3–ZrO2, was evaluated in a batch...

Catalytic conversion of rapeseed oil has been investigated over nanocrystalline and hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites aimed to the production of both raw chemicals and fuels. Ni has been added to some of the samples in order to induce bifunctional properties in the catalysts. Almost total rapeseed conversion and deoxygenation degree were achieved with al...

The conversion of rapeseed oil has been investigated using Mo oxide- and Ni-modified nanocrystalline ZSM-5 zeolites as catalysts in a nitrogen atmosphere. The incorporation of metals into the HZSM-5 support causes significant changes in their acid and textural properties, modifying also its catalytic behavior. For all the catalysts, an almost total...