Dispersed Ni-Doped Aegirine Nanocatalysts for the Selective Hydrogenation of Olefinic Molecules

Abstract

A mild hydrothermal route was employed for the first time to prepare pure synthetic aegirine nanocatalysts with high dispersion of the nickel species, different Ni contents, low-temperature reducibility of the Ni2+ species, and two average nanocrystalline domain sizes of 12 and 25 nm. The developed method allowed the formation of a novel nanocarrier for nickel that induced a well dispersion of the metal and its protection from sulfur poisoning. The nanocrystalline aegirine materials were fully characterized by XRD, BET, SEM-EDX, HRTEM, FT-IR, ICP, TGA, and TPR in order to confirm the aegirine structure and particle morphology. In this study, the synthetic Ni-nanoaegirine materials were tested as a nanocatalyst for the selective hydrogenation of aromatics (toluene) and olefins (1-octene) at low H2 pressures (70 psig) and moderate temperatures (140–200 °C). The hydrogenation activity of the synthesized materials was assessed and it was found that the 12 nm Ni-aegirine materials were more active than the 25 ...