Direct catalytic conversion of
ethanol to
hydrocarbon blend-stock can increase
biofuels use in current vehicles beyond the
ethanol blend-wall of 10-15%. Literature reports describe quantitative conversion of
ethanol over
zeolite catalysts but high C2
hydrocarbon formation renders this approach unsuitable for commercialization. Furthermore, the prior mechanistic studies suggested that
ethanol conversion involves endothermic
dehydration step. Here, we report the complete conversion of
ethanol to
hydrocarbons over InV-ZSM-5 without added
hydrogen and which produces lower C2 (<13%) as compared to that over H-ZSM-5. Experiments with C2H5OD and in situ DRIFT suggest that most of the products come from the
hydrocarbon pool type mechanism and
dehydration step is not necessary. Thus, our method of direct conversion of
ethanol offers a pathway to produce suitable
hydrocarbon blend-stock that may be blended at a refinery to produce fuels such as
gasoline, diesel, JP-8, and jet fuel, or produce commodity chemicals such as BTX.