Ni-Fe-Al LDH derived Ni[sbnd]Fe nanosheet for green diesel production from lipid hydrotreatment

Abstract

In order to deal with the deficiency of active sites in Ni catalyst, NiFe nanosheet (Ni-Fe/Al2O3-NS) catalyst was synthesized by using Ni-Fe-Al LDH as the precursor. The catalyst was further utilized in the lipid hydrotreatment for green diesel production. With a lamellar structure and large Ni loading (more than 60%), the Ni-Fe/Al2O3-NS catalyst possessed abundant Ni sties with high dispersion, large surface area, and strong acidity. Moreover, in Ni-Fe/Al2O3-NS the highly active Ni3Fe phase was formed, which promoted the decarbonylation route in hydrotreatment. The Ni-Fe/Al2O3-NS catalyst achieved 98.7% conversion with 98.1% alkane yield in oleic acid hydrotreatment under very mild conditions (220 °C, 2 MPa of hydrogen pressure, 3 h). The catalytic performance of Ni-Fe/Al2O3-NS was much higher than traditional Ni-Fe/Al2O3 and other catalysts reported in current related studies.