High-Performance Magnetic Activated Carbon from Solid Waste from Lignin Conversion Processes. 2. Their Use as NiMo Catalyst Supports for Lignin Conversion

Abstract

Lignin conversion processes produce carbon-rich residues [Oregui-Bengoechea et al. J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 2015, 113, 713−722; Zakzeski et al. Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 3552–3599] that can be converted into valuable materials such as magnetic activated carbons (MACs). Such lignin-derived MACs can be further used as functional substrates for hydrotreating NiMo catalysts. In this work, we studied the activity of different NiMo-MACs for the catalytic conversion of lignin in a formic acid/ethanol media (lignin-to-liquid, LtL, process). Two KOH-activated LtL hydrochars from eucalyptus (MACE) and Norwegian spruce (MACS) lignins were used as catalyst supports. In addition, the activity of the resulting NiMo-MACs, namely, C-MACE and C-MACS, was compared with a NiMo catalyst supported on a commercial activated carbon (AC). At reaction conditions of 340 °C and 6 h, the best result was obtained for the NiMo-MACS with a yield of 72.2 wt % of oil and 21.1 wt % of organic solids. At 300 °C and 10 h, both NiMo-MAC catalysts displayed higher hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) activities than their commercial counterpart, yielding considerably higher oil yields. The higher HDO activities are tentatively assigned to the formation of NiFe species on the catalytic surfaces of the NiMo-MAC catalysts. In addition, the magnetism exhibited by the C-MACS made it easy to recover the catalyst. However, a considerable loss of activity was observed upon recycling due to a chemical modification of the catalyst surface.