Supported nickel catalysts for anisole hydrodeoxygenation: Increase in the selectivity to cyclohexane

Abstract

Abstract The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of anisole was performed with Ni catalysts supported on SBA-15 silica and protonated titanate nanotubes (PTN), in order to determine the effect of the support’s nature and the method of incorporation of Ni species on the catalytic activity and selectivity in HDO. Catalysts with 10 wt.% of Ni were prepared by two methods: deposition-precipitation with urea (DP) and the classical incipient wetness impregnation (IM). Characterization of the catalysts was performed by nitrogen physisorption, temperature programmed reduction, temperature programmed desorption of ammonia, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, XPS and O2 chemisorption. The obtained results show that the support’s nature and the preparation method had a strong influence on the dispersion of the supported Ni species and their HDO performance. Catalysts with larger metallic Ni particles showed higher ability for hydrogenation of anisole and higher intrinsic activity (TOF) than those with smaller Ni particles. On the other side, the use of the PTN support and the DP with urea preparation method resulted in catalysts with increased acidity and improved selectivity for the formation of deoxygenated products (cyclohexane).