Influence of noble metals on the catalytic performance of Ni/TiO2 for Ethanol Guerbet condensation

Abstract

In the present work, Ni-M/TiO2 (M = Au, Pt, and Ir) were prepared and their catalytic performances were evaluated for ethanol Guerbet condensation. The characterization and evaluation results showed that the addition of noble metal adjusted the acid–base properties of catalyst and improved its catalytic performance. The number of acid sites of catalyst promoted the conversion of ethanol while the strength of basic sites of catalyst boosted the formation of n-butanol. Ni-Pt/TiO2 presented the best catalytic performance: n-butanol selectivity of 48.1% was reached at an ethanol conversion of 40.0% at 210 °C and 10 h. Furthermore the catalytic stability of Ni-Pt/TiO2 was improved significantly; it was used for 3 runs without a significant loss in its catalytic performance.