Effects of Cu–Ni Bimetallic Catalyst Composition and Support on Activity, Selectivity, and Stability for Furfural Conversion to 2-Methyfuran

Abstract

Supported bimetallic catalysts have been demonstrated to enhance catalytic activity, product selectivity, and catalyst stability over supported monometallic catalysts for a range of catalytic reactions. However, the surface structure and composition of bimetallic particles can differ significantly from the bulk due to variations in surface energies and interactions with adsorbates, making the design of bimetallic catalysts with targeted properties and reactivities challenging. We report here the influence of catalyst support (Al2O3 and TiO2) on the surface composition and structure of bimetallic Cu–Ni nanoparticles with varying Ni weight loading (0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 5, and 10 wt %) at a constant Cu loading of 5 wt % and a correlation to catalytic reactivity and stability in furfural (FF) hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Analysis via depth-profiling X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggested that over a range of Ni compositions in Cu–Ni/Al2O3 catalysts, Cu and Ni were distributed evenly within bimetallic particles, a...