The invention relates to a preparation method and application of a catalyst for catalyzing
dehydrogenation of 1, 4-pentanediol to prepare gamma-
valerolactone, and the catalyst is Cu /
PrOx-ZnO. The method comprises the following steps: dissolving soluble salts of
copper salt,
zinc salt and
praseodymium salt in a
mixed solution of deionized water and an
organic solvent, and ultrasonically dissolving; and then sequentially adding a complexing agent and a structure-directing agent, carrying out ultrasonic
dissolution again, transferring into a 100ml high-pressure hydrothermal kettle, aging for 6-72 hours under the condition of 90-180 DEG C, cooling, washing,
drying and
roasting to obtain the nano-sheet Cu /
PrOx-ZnO catalyst with a hierarchical hierarchical pore structure. According to the present invention, with the catalyst, the gamma-
valerolactone preparation through the efficient catalytic conversion of the 1, 4-pentanediol in the
trickle bed reactor at the temperature of 160-210 DEG C under the
solvent-free condition can be achieved, the conversion rate of the 1, 4-pentanediol is greater than 99%, the selectivity of the gamma-
valerolactone is greater than 97%, the catalyst has good stability, and the catalytic activity is not significantly reduced after the
continuous operation for 200 h. The catalyst provided by the invention has the advantages of hierarchical hierarchical pore
nanosheet structure, abundant alkaline sites and defect sites, good active
metal dispersity,
high activity, easy
recovery, high stability and high product yield.