Microwave-Absorbing Catalysts in Catalytic Reactions of Biofuel Production

Catalytic reactions in producing biofuels often face issues such as low product yield, low selectivity to preferred products and serious environmental issues which leads to the exploration of green technologies. Microwave technology is one of the green technologies that is widely applied in the field such as medical, food, signal processing or navigation, and has been reviewed for its potential in the catalytic reactions for biofuel production. With the application of microwave technology, its unique heating mechanism consists of magnetic field energy and electric field energy that enables the selective heating of materials, allowing rapid reaction and enhancement of catalytic performance of catalysts. In general, this review has discussed on the fundamentals and mechanisms of microwave technology with an in-depth discussion on the application of microwave-absorbing catalysts for biofuel production, especially in ammonia synthesis, bio-oil and 5-HMF production as well as methanation. Lastly, the challenges and future prospect of microwave-absorbing catalysts are included as well.