Direct Synthesis and Delamination of Swollen Layered Ferrierite for the Reductive Etherification of Furfural

A swollen ferrierite structure (denoted as ECNU-35P) was directly synthesized with a commercially available surfactant of decamethonium hydroxide as bifunctional organic structure-directing agent (OSDA). ECNU-35P, with elastic long-chain surfactant intercalating the neighboring FER layers, had a much wider interlayer spacing than previously reported FER-type layered precursors of PLS-3 and PREFER. The phase delamination of ECNU-35P was readily realized without additional swelling process that is destructive to zeolite frameworks. The non-corrosive delaminated derivative (DECNU-35) was composed of the FER nanosheets with 4 nm-thickness. With large external surface area, abundant mesopores and moderate acidity, Pd/DECNU-35 served as highly active and robust catalysts in the reductive etherification of biomass furfural, providing a high yield of 74 % for the biofuel of furfuryl ethyl ether.