García, AdriánSanchís, RutMiguel, Pablo J.Dejoz, Ana MaríaPico, María PilarLópez García, María LuisaÁlvarez Serrano, InmaculadaGarcía, TomásSolsona, Benjamín2025-01-092025-01-092020-05-2710.1039/D0RA04018Ehttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/113463In the present article, γ-valerolactone has been obtained from levulinic acid with a yield exceeding 25% using very mild conditions without feeding hydrogen (30 °C, atmospheric pressure, water as the hydrogen source). The overall reaction conducted is a two-step process: first, a redox reaction involving the oxidation of metallic Zn to ZnO for in situ hydrogen production through the water splitting reaction and, second, a catalytic reaction involving Ni-supported catalysts for the production of γ-valerolactone from levulinic acid. Ni active sites have been supported on sepiolite, an abundant and cheap material. The nickel particle size has been demonstrated to be a parameter of paramount importance determining the catalytic activity, since the best catalytic performance is obtained with the smallest Ni nanoparticles. This combination of Zn and Ni supported on sepiolite shows a good catalytic stability after three catalytic runs.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA04018Ehttps://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/ra/d0ra04018eopen access546Ciencias23 Química