Considering the growing importance of furfural, it is necessary to develop a robust solid acid catalyst for the conversion of xylan (hemicelluloses) into furfural in a one-pot method. In this study, the effects of various components (Si, Al and P) and crystallization time on the preparation of acidic materials and their properties are extensively described. It is seen that with the increase in crystallization time (0, 48, 96, 176 h) during the synthesis of silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-44), materials morphology changes from amorphous to AFI to CHA and the best activity for furfural synthesis (82%) from xylan was observed with SAPO-44 catalyst aged for 176 h. Since, acidity in the SAPO-44 is guided by the incorporation of Si in the ALPO framework, study on Si molar concentration (0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6) in SAPO-44 was carried out and it was observed that SAPO-44 having 1.0 mole of Si content is the best catalyst for the xylan/xylose conversion to furfural. Catalyst structure-activity correlation is thoroughly defined with the help of several physico-chemical properties. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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