Deoxygenation of methyl laurate to hydrocarbons on silica-supported Ni-Mo phosphides: Effect of calcination temperatures of precursor

Abstract

SiO2-supported Ni-Mo bimetallic phosphides were prepared by temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) method from the phosphate precursors calcined at different temperatures. Their properties were characterized by means of ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), CO chemisorption, H2 and NH3 temperature-programmed desorptions (H2-TPD and NH3-TPD). Their catalytic performances for the deoxygenation of methyl laurate were tested in a fixed-bed reactor. When the precursors were calcined at 400 and 500 °C, respectively, NiMoP2 phase could be formed apart from Ni2P and MoP phases in the prepared C400 and C500 catalysts. However, when the precursors were calcined at 600, 700 and 800 °C, respectively, only Ni2P and MoP phases could be detected in the prepared C600, C700 and C800 catalysts. Also, in C400, C500 and C600 catalysts, Mo atoms were found to be entered in the lattice of Ni2P phase, but the entering extent became less with the increase of calcination temperature. As the calcination temperature of the precursor increased, the interaction between Ni and Mo in the prepared catalysts decreased, and the phosphide crystallite size tended to increase, subsequently leading to the decrease in the surface metal site density and the acid amount. C600 catalyst showed the highest activity among the tested ones for the deoxygenation of methyl laurate. As the calcination temperature of the precursor increased, the selectivity to C12 hydrocarbons decreased while the selectivity to C11 hydrocarbons tended to increase. This can be mainly attributed to the decreased Ni-Mo interaction and the increased phosphide particle size. In sum, the structure and performance of Ni-Mo bimetallic phosphide catalyst can be tuned by the calcination temperature of precursor.