Al2O3 Supported Ni Catalysts Research Articles

Enhancement of non-thermal plasma-catalytic CO2 reforming of CH4 using Ni/Mg–Al2O3 catalysts in a parallel plate dielectric barrier discharge reactor

CO2 and CH4 are converted to syngas by dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction. This research investigated the effects of the Mg promoter on Al2O3-supported Ni catalysts and Mg calcination temperature on the DRM performance in a parallel plate dielectric barrier discharge reactor. The Mg promoter played a crucial role in the DRM performance, as increasing the Mg calcination temperature from 700 °C to 800 °C significantly improved the DRM performance and catalyst properties, including increased specific surface area, decreased total acidity, reduced crystallite and particle sizes, and more uniform dispersion of the Ni nanoparticles. Under these conditions, the H2 and CO selectivity were 77.0 % and 70.7 %, the CH4 and CO2 conversion were 25.1 % and 20.6 %, and the energy efficiency was 8.4 %. In addition, the catalyst was associated with a lower coking rate (0.5 mg C/gcat h), a relatively low carbon deposit of 1.5 %, and a carbon loss of 2.8 %, possibly because the weak acidity hindered the Boudouard reaction and CH4 decomposition. However, increasing the Mg calcination temperature to 900 °C increased the total acidity and Ni particle size, decreasing H2 and CO selectivities and increasing carbon deposits on the catalyst surface.

CO2 methanation under more realistic conditions: Influence of O2 and H2O on Ni-based catalysts’ performance

In this work, Ni-based catalysts (15 wt%) promoted with Y (15 wt%) and Fe (1 wt%) supported on an optimized USY zeolite were prepared by incipient wetness co-impregnation, characterized by XRD, TGA, N2 adsorption, H2-TPR, and TEM, and finally tested towards CO2 methanation (total flow of 274 mL/min, H2/CO2 = 4, 2.5 bar and 0.2 g of catalyst) including water or oxygen in the feed. On one side, water (∼5 vol%) shows a limited impact on catalysts’ performance despite being a product of the CO2 methanation reaction. These results were mainly attributed to the high hydrophobicity of the studied catalysts, as well as to the absence of additional/competitive reactions. On the other side, oxygen (∼4 vol%) negatively affected the activity of the tested catalysts, decreasing the CO2 conversion, particularly for the unpromoted catalysts. Two different aspects were found to be responsible for the decline in activity: on the one hand, the H2/O2 reaction, which is faster than the CO2 methanation and decreases H2 availability for Sabatier reaction; on the other hand, the partial re-oxidation of nickel active sites, evidenced by post-test characterization, which decreases the number of Ni0 active sites, and therefore, leads to a drop in CO2 conversion. Reversibility tests to assess O2 effect were also performed, indicating that its impact on the catalytic performances mainly arises from the decrease in H2 partial pressure, leading to operation under sub-stoichiometric CO2 methanation conditions (H2/CO2 ∼ 3). When compared to a commercial Al2O3–supported Ni catalyst, zeolite-based samples demonstrated superior resistance to H2O and O2.

Precursor-Driven Catalytic Performances of Al2O3-Supported Earth-Abundant Ni Catalysts in the Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid and Hydroxymethylfurfural into Added-Value Chemicals.

It has been shown that the nature of the metal precursor and the thermal effects during calcination determine the physicochemical properties of the catalysts and their catalytic activity in the levulinic acid (LA) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) hydrogenation reactions. The endothermic effect during calcination of the inorganic nickel precursor promoted higher metal dispersion and stronger interaction with the alumina surface. In contrast, the exothermic effects during the calcination of organic nickel precursors resulted in smaller metal dispersion and lower interaction with the support surface. A clear relationship was found between the size of the metal crystallites and the yield of LA hydrogenation reaction. The smaller crystallites were more active in the LA hydrogenation reaction. In turn, the size of the metal particles and their nature of interaction with the surface of the alumina influence the hydrogenation pathways of the HMF.

Cost-Effective Single-Step Synthesis of Metal Oxide-Supported Ni Catalyst for H2-Production Through Dry Reforming of Methane

AbstractPreparing catalysts from cheap metal precursors in a single pot are an appealing method for reducing catalytic preparation costs, minimizing chemical waste, and saving time. With regards to the catalytic conversion of dry reforming of methane, it offers the prospect of significantly reducing the cost of H2 production. Herein, NiO-stabilized metal oxides like Ni/TiO2, Ni/MgO, Ni/ZrO2, and Ni/Al2O3 are prepared at two different calcination temperatures (600 °C and 800 °C). Catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, surface area-porosity analysis, Temperature program experiments, infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry analysis. The MgO-supported Ni catalyst (Ni/MgO-600), ZrO2-supported Ni catalyst (Ni/ZrO2-600), and Al2O3-supported Ni (Ni/Al2O3-600) catalyst calcined at 600 °C show initial equal H2 yields (~ 55%). The population of CH4 decomposition sites over ZrO2-supported Ni catalyst remains highest, but H2-yield drops to 45% against high coke deposition. The catalytic activity remains constant over the Ni/MgO-600 catalyst due to the enrichment of “surface interacted CO2-species”. MgO-supported Ni catalyst calcined at 800 °C undergoes weak interactions of NiO-M′ (M′ = support), serious loss of CH4 decomposition sites and potential consumption of H2 by reverse water gas shift reaction, resulting in inferior H2 yield. H2-yield remains unaffected over an Al2O3-supported Ni catalyst even against the highest coke deposition due to the formation of stable Ni (which exsolves from NiAl2O4) and proper matching between carbon formation and rate of carbon diffusion.

Cascade Performance of Nitroarenes with Alcohols Boosted by a Hollow Flying Saucer-Shaped Ni-Al2O3 Catalyst via a MOF-Templated Strategy Induced by the Kirkendall Effect.

Catalysts with an open hollow structure can enhance the mass transfer capability of the catalyst during the reaction process, thereby further improving the catalytic performance. In this work, uniform and monodisperse flying-squircher-shaped Al-MOFs were synthesized via a solvothermal method. Furthermore, a hollow structure Al2O3-supported metallic Ni catalyst (termed Ni-Al2O3-HFA) was synthesized via the Kirkendall effect for the hydrogenation-alkylation cascade reaction by employing as-synthesized Al-MOFs as a carrier for impregnation of Ni(NO3)2·6H2O through further calcination and reduction. Various characterizations (e.g., XRD, HADDF-STEM, H2-TPR) were conducted to reveal the superior performance of the developed Ni-Al2O3-HFA catalyst compared to Ni/Al2O3-IWI (Al2O3 obtained from calcination of Al-MOFs) in cascade reaction between nitroarenes and alcohols. We hope to use the MOF template method via the Kirkendall effect to prepare hollow structure nanocatalysts, which can provide a guideline for the preparation of other hollow materials.

Microwave catalytic conversion of acetylene for co-production of hydrogen and carbon nanotubes

Natural gas conversion to hydrogen and solid carbon can drastically reduce the carbon footprint. Microwave plasma pyrolysis is an emerging process for chemical industries to directly convert methane (CH4), the major component of natural gas, to hydrogen and carbon, which offers benefits such as fast process dynamics, flexibility, and high product yield. However, the formation of unwanted by-products, like acetylene (C2H2), will require extra cost for gas separation. Plasma pyrolysis of CH4 produces large amount of acetylene at downstream, which is currently used mainly for welding. To avoid gas separation and upgrade acetylene from the downstream of methane plasma reactor, a novel approach toward its transformation to carbon nanotubes (CNT) and pure hydrogen (H2) over Ni-based bimetallic catalyst driven by microwave irradiation has been reported in this work. The dominant gas product was hydrogen. Low concentrations of methane, ethane, and ethylene were observed in the product stream. Catalytic acetylene decomposition was carried out at 400 °C over Al2O3 supported Ni catalyst. The results showed that, at 400 °C, acetylene was dehydrogenated to CNT and hydrogen was the dominant gas in product stream over 10Ni-1Pd-Al2O3 catalyst. Characterizations of spent catalysts was conducted using Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to investigate the properties of carbon deposited over the catalyst during the catalytic acetylene decomposition. The results highlight that methane can be efficiently converted to hydrogen and CNT through 2-step process, microwave plasma and microwave catalytic conversion of intermediate acetylene, operated in a single reactor system driven by microwave.

Investigation of Hydrogen Production from Sodium Borohydride in the Presence of Ni/Al2O3

With the increasing trend towards the use of renewable energy and the encouragement of international agreements due to environmental effects, the world tends to provide the energy it needs from renewable sources. Hydrogen is an environmentally friendly energy carrier that is produced from various energy sources and can be a sustainable solution to energy needs. Catalyst evaluation studies are carried out in studies that release high purity hydrogen by hydrolysis of metal hydrides such as sodium borohydride (NaBH4), and potassium borohydride (KBH4). In this study, Al2O3 supported Ni catalysts were synthesized by the impregnation method and the catalysts were characterized by applying X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) methods. The performance of the catalysts was evaluated in the production of hydrogen by the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride. The influences of reaction temperature (20, 40, and 60 °C) and Ni content of the catalyst (20, 30, and 40 %) on the hydrolysis reaction was investigated under experimental conditions of 100 mg NaBH4, 100 mg catalyst, 5 mL 0.25 M NaOH. The highest hydrogen yield (100%) and hydrogen production rate (364.3 mL/gcat.min) was obtained with 40% Ni/Al2O3 catalyst at 60 °C reaction temperature.

CO2 Reforming of CH4 Using Coke Oven Gas over Ni/MgO-Al2O3 Catalysts: Effect of the MgO:Al2O3 Ratio

Research is being actively conducted to improve the carbon deposition and sintering resistance of Ni-based catalysts. Among them, the Al2O3-supported Ni catalyst has been broadly studied for the dry reforming reaction due to its high CH4 activity at the beginning of the reaction. However, there is a problem of deactivation due to carbon deposition of Ni/Al2O3 catalyst and sintering of Ni, which is a catalytically active material. Supplementing MgO in Ni/Al2O3 catalyst can result in an improved MgAl2O4 spinel structure and basicity, which can be helpful for the activation of methane and carbon dioxide molecules. In order to confirm the optimal supports’ ratio in Ni/MgO-Al2O3 catalysts, the catalysts were prepared by supporting Ni after controlling the MgO:Al2O3 ratio stepwise, and the prepared catalysts were used for CO2 reforming of CH4 (CDR) using coke oven gas (COG). The catalytic reaction was conducted at 800 °C and at a high gas hourly space velocity (GHSV = 1,500,000 h−1) to screen the catalytic performance. The Ni/MgO-Al2O3 (MgO:Al2O3 = 3:7) catalyst showed the best catalytic performance between prepared catalysts. From this study, the ratio of MgO:Al2O3 was confirmed to affect not only the basicity of the catalyst but also the dispersion of the catalyst and the reducing property of the catalyst surface.

Deep Understanding into the Effect of Fe on CO2 Methanation: A Support-Dependent Phenomenon

An in-depth understanding of the influence mechanism of the nonprecious metal Fe promoter on CO2 methanation is of great significance to the optimal design of high-efficiency CO2 methanation catalysts. In this research, CeO2 and Al2O3-supported Ni-based catalysts were prepared and evaluated for the CO2 methanation reaction. Interestingly, it was found that the addition of Fe into the CeO2-supported Ni catalyst lowered the CO2 methanation performance, while it greatly enhanced the performance of the Al2O3-supported Ni catalyst. A variety of factors over Fe-modified catalysts were explored, in which surface basicity along with oxygen vacancies could contribute to the adjustment of the CO2 methanation performance.

Production of renewable hydrocarbons from vegetable oil refining by-product/waste soapstock over selective sulfur-free high metal loading SiO2–Al2O3 supported Ni catalyst via hydrotreatment

The performance, selectivity, recovery, and reusability of high metal loading commercial Ni66 ± 5%/SiO2–Al2O3 catalyst were studied in renewable hydrocarbon synthesis from low cost raw material pretreated soapstock (TS) by solvent-free one-pot hydrotreatment (HT). TS was extracted from rapeseed oil chemical refining by-product/waste soapstock (SS) by developed simple treatment method. The catalyst was characterized by FE-SEM, TEM, XRF, XRD, and N2 sorption analysis. Feedstock, liquid, and gaseous products were analyzed by FT-IR, GC-FID, GC-MS, GC-TCD, and CHNS elemental analysis. The effect of initial H2 pressure (2–8 MPa), catalyst amount (3–9%), reaction temperature (280–340 °C), and residence time (15–60 min) on hydrocarbon production were investigated. Combustible gases and pure marketable linear saturated hydrocarbons with high yield 79.1%, calorific value 47.22 MJ/kg, C/H ratio 5.6, and n-C17 content 82.7% were successfully produced from TS using minimum effective catalyst amount and reaction conditions: 5%, 6 MPa, 320 °C, and 30 min.

Catalytic CO2 reforming of CH4 over MgAl2O4 supported Ni-Co catalysts for the syngas production

Ni, Co and Ni–Co bimetallic catalysts of different ratios were synthesized by the Incipient Wetness Impregnation Method (IWI) over Magnesium Aluminate support, keeping the total metal loading 15 wt.%, characterized and tested for the reforming of methane with carbon dioxide at 873 K and 1 atm pressure. Magnesium Aluminate supported catalysts were also compared with Al2O3 supported Ni catalysts with similar metal loading. The results obtained revealed that MgAl2O4 exhibited excellent thermal stability as compared to Al2O3 as support at higher temperatures. Ni–Co catalyst, with an explicit Ni:Co (3:1) ratio for the 75Ni25Co/MgAl2O4 provided the highest CH4 conversion and was about 1.82 times that of the 100Ni/MgAl2O4; CO2 conversion also followed similar trends. Co-existence of Ni and Co with synergic effect in an explicit Ni:Co (3:1) ratio reduced the reduction temperature and increased the amount of metal in 75Ni25Co/MgAl2O4. CH4 and CO2 conversions, TOFDRM, H2: CO ratios and catalyst deactivations were related to the concentrations of the Ni–Co and particularly an explicit ratio of 3:1 for the Ni:Co in 75Ni25Co/MgAl2O4 catalyst provided the best initial & final conversions, TOFDRM and H2:CO ratio. Detail carbon analysis suggested that the type of coke deposited on 75Ni25Co/MgAl2O4 after the DRM reaction is of the same nature and are originating from the CH4 cracking reaction and are of reactive type.

A DRIFTS and TPD study on the methanation of CO2 on Ni/Al2O3 catalyst

This study deals with the hydrogenation of CO2 into CH4 and H2O on an Al2O3-supported Ni catalyst with Ni content of 20 wt%. CO2 adsorbates were identified by DRIFTS and CO2-TPD mainly showing the formation of carbonate and carboxylate species. Exposure to H2 indicates that hydrogen carbonate present on the support as well as carbonate presumably adsorbed at the Ni-Al2O3 interface are reactive intermediates in the methanation. Contrary, carboxylate also adsorbed on Ni as well as formate species are acting as spectators.

Mild and selective hydrogenation of nitriles into primary amines over a supported Ni catalyst

The mesoporous Al2O3 supported Ni catalyst demonstrated a high activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of nitriles into primary amines under the mild conditions (60–80 °C and 2.5 bar H2) with ammonia as the additive.

Stabilizing Ni on bimodal mesoporous-macroporous alumina with enhanced coke tolerance in dry reforming of methane to syngas

The bimodal mesoporous-macroporous alumina support was prepared via evaporation-induced self-assembly method (EISA), in which the polystyrene latex spheres with 100 nm diameter size were employed as sacrificial templates to fabricate macropores. The mesoporous-macroporous Al2O3-supported Ni catalyst (Ni/MM-A) was prepared by incipient-wetness impregnation method and applied for dry reforming of methane (DRM) to syngas. Characterizations by XRD, H2-TPR, SEM, and TEM revealed that the long-range ordered mesopore structure together with existing macropores was fabricated by using the EISA method, and the Ni particles were mainly stabilized inside the mesoporous channels of Al2O3 support and the strong interaction between Ni and Al2O3 was constructed. The Ni/MM-A catalyst exhibited more excellent catalytic performance in DRM reaction than that over Ni/M-A without macroporous structure. Stability tests for 100 h DRM reaction further indicated that the Ni/MM-A catalyst presented strong catalytic stability, which was significantly attributed to the macroporous structure that allowed the rapid mass transport, enhanced the tolerance to graphitic carbon and reduced the amount of graphitic carbon depositions.

Stability and activity maintenance of Al2O3- and carbon nanotube-supported Ni catalysts during continuous gasification of glycerol in supercritical water

We have evaluated the long-term stability of activities and physicochemical properties for nickel nanoparticles supported on Mg-promoted γ-Al2O3 (MgAl2O4-Al2O3), α-Al2O3, and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for supercritical water gasification (SCWG) in a continuous flow reactor at 425 °C, 25.2 MPa, using 9 wt.% glycerol as the feed. Ni/CNT achieved the lowest H2 yields but produced consistent carbon gasification efficiencies (CGEs) ∼80% during 48 h of operation at steady state, whereas the CGEs from Ni/α-Al2O3 and Ni/MgAl2O4-Al2O3 decreased to <80% when the gasification was extended to 48 h. Characterization results indicated that CNTs showed stable pore structures and Ni/CNT showed the best dissolution resistance of Ni in SCW. Persistent loss of Al into SCW probably contributed to the deactivation of Al2O3-supported Ni catalyst beds. Results also suggest that enhanced interaction of Ni and the supports may be beneficial for reducing dissolution of Ni in SCW.

Influence of the synthesis method parameters used to prepare nickel-based catalysts on the catalytic performance for the glycerol steam reforming reaction

The influence of the synthesis method parameters used to prepare nickel-based catalysts on the catalytic performance for the glycerol steam reforming reaction was studied. A series of Al2O3-supported Ni catalysts were synthesized, with nickel loading of 8 wt%, using the incipient wetness, wet impregnation, and modified equilibrium deposition filtration methods. The catalysts' surface and bulk properties were determined by inductively coupled plasma (ICP), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). Used catalysts were characterized by techniques such as elemental analysis and SEM in order to determine the level of carbon that was deposited and catalyst morphology. The results indicated that the synthesis method affected the textural, structural and surface properties of the catalysts, differentiating the dispersion and the kind of nickel species on alumina's surface. The formation of nickel aluminate phases was confirmed by the XRD and TPR analysis and the β-peak of the Ni/Al-edf catalyst was higher than in the other two catalysts, indicating that the nickel aluminate species of this catalyst were more reducible. Both Ni/Al-wet and Ni/Al-edf catalysts showed increasing CO2 selectivities and approximately constant CO selectivities for temperatures above 550 °C, indicating that these catalysts successfully catalyze the water gas shift reaction. It was also confirmed that the Ni/Al-edf catalyst had the highest values for glycerol to gaseous products conversion, hydrogen yield, allyl alcohol, acetaldehyde, and acetic acid selectivities at 650 °C and the lowest carbon deposition of the catalysts tested. The correlation of the catalysts' structural properties, dispersion and reducibility with catalytic performance reveals that the EDF method can provide catalysts with higher specific surface area and active phase's dispersion, that are easier to reduce, more active and selective to hydrogen production, and more resistant to carbon deposition.

Hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone in dioxane over mixed MgO–Al2O3 supported Ni catalyst

Mixed MgO–Al2O3 (with different Mg/Al ratio) supported nickel catalysts were prepared via co-precipitation method and used for hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone under mild condition. Characterization results indicated that mixed MgO–Al2O3 supported Ni catalysts possessed bigger surface area than that of Ni/MgO and Ni/Al2O3, and Ni dispersed highly on the surface of mixed MgO–Al2O3 support. It was found that mixed MgO–Al2O3 supported Ni catalysts were more active and selective for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone than that of Ni/MgO and Ni/Al2O3, and the best yield of γ-valerolactone at 160°C, 1h and 3MPa H2 reached 99.7% over Ni/MgAlO2.5, and Ni/Mg2Al2O5 could be recycled without obvious loss of its initial activity.

Effect of ethanedioic acid functionalization on Ni/Al2O3 catalytic hydrodeoxygenation and isomerization of octadec-9-enoic acid into biofuel: kinetics and Arrhenius parameters

The effect of ethanedioic acid (EdA) functionalization on Al2O3 supported Ni catalyst was studied on the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), isomerization, kinetics and Arrhenius parameters of octadec-9-enoic acid (OA) into biofuel in this report. This was achieved via synthesis of two catalysts; the first, nickel alumina catalyst (Ni/Al2O3) was via the incorporation of inorganic Ni precursor into Al2O3; the second was via the incorporation nickel oxalate (NiOx) prepared by functionalization of Ni with EdA into Al2O3 to obtain organometallic NiOx/Al2O3 catalyst. Their characterization results showed that Ni species present in Ni/Al2O3 and NiOx/Al2O3 were 8.2% and 9.3%, respectively according to the energy dispersive X-ray result. NiOx/Al2O3 has comparably higher Ni content due to the EdA functionalization which also increases its acidity and guarantees high Ni dispersion with weaker metal-support-interaction leading to highly reducible Ni as seen in the X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, TPR and Raman spectroscopy results. Their activities tested on the HDO of OA showed that NiOx/Al2O3 did not only display the best catalytic and reusability abilities, but it also possesses isomerization ability due to its increased acidity. The NiOx/Al2O3 also has the highest rate constants evaluated using pseudo-first-order kinetics, but the least activation energy of 176 kJ/mol in the biofuel formation step compared to 244 kJ/mol evaluated when using Ni/Al2O3. The result is promising for future feasibility studies toward commercialization of catalytic HDO of OA into useful biofuel using organometallic catalysts.

Effects of Types of Metal Oxides on Hydrothermal Gasification of Phenol over Novel Metal Oxide–carbon Composite Supported Ni Catalysts Prepared by Sol-gel Method

Novel carbon and oxide-supported Ni (Ni/C/TiO2, SiO2 or ZrO2) catalysts were prepared by the sol-gel method and investigated for hydrothermal gasification of aqueous solution of phenol (phenol water) as a model of wastewater, and compared with carbon and Al2O3 supported Ni catalysts. Catalysts were prepared by the combination of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TIP), tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) or zirconium tetrabutoxide (ZB) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an organic template, with the addition of active metal, nickel nitrate hexahydrate, at the preparation of catalysts. After calcination under a nitrogen atmosphere, larger amounts of active metal species were deposited on the carbon skeleton in the catalysts. The introduction of PEG dispersed metal Ni with high loading on carbon derived from PEG. Hydrothermal gasification was performed under the following conditions: 350 °C, pressure 20 MPa, phenol water 2-20 g/L, catalyst 5 mL, LHSV 48 h−1. 16N11C73Z catalyst, which represents 16 wt% Ni, 11 wt% carbon in PEG, and 73 wt% ZrO2 at the preparation of the catalyst, showed the highest activity among the 16N11C73Oxide catalysts (Oxide: TiO2, SiO2, ZrO2 or Al2O3). The conversion of phenol decreased in the order 16N11C73Z>16N11C73A>16N11C73T>16N11C73S (16N: 16 wt% Ni; 11C: 11 wt% carbon in PEG; 73Z, A, T or S: 73 wt% ZrO2, Al2O3, TiO2 or SiO2). As the amount of PEG added was increased, TiO2, ZrO2 and Al2O3 containing catalysts showed 100 % of conversion whereas the yields of carbon and methane decreased in the order 16N63C21A>16N53C31Z>16N53C31T (16N: 16 wt% Ni; 53 or 63C: 53 or 63 wt% carbon in PEG; 21 or 31A, Z or T: 21 or 31 wt% Al2O3, ZrO2 or TiO2). 16N53C31Z and 16N53C31T did not show change in pore structure after the reaction, although the sizes of Ni species increased.

Highly Selective Cu-Modified Ni/SiO2–Al2O3 Catalysts for the Conversion of Maleic Anhydride to γ-Butyrolactone in Gas Phase

The gas phase hydrogenation of maleic anhydride (MA) to succinic anhydride (SA) and the subsequent hydrogenolysis to γ-butyrolactone (GBL) was studied on SiO2–Al2O3-supported Ni catalysts modified with Cu and prepared by incipient wetness impregnation (Ni-I, CuNi-I) and coprecipitation-deposition (CuNi-PD) methods. The samples were characterized by N2 adsorption at −196 °C, X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed reduction, transmission electron microscopy and H2 chemisorption. Catalytic tests were performed between 170 and 220 °C at atmospheric pressure in a fixed bed reactor. Crystalline NiO along with a Ni2+ phase strongly interacting with the support was observed in the oxide precursors. The extent of the strongly interacting Ni2+ phase diminishes according to the following pattern: CuNi-PD > CuNi-I > Ni-I, along with a proportional rise of the NiO phase. The proportion of small to large metal particles, formed after reduction, followed the same pattern as that observed for the extent of Ni2+ phase. All catalysts were very active in the MA hydrogenation to SA, but displayed distinct performances with respect to the subsequent SA hydrogenolysis. Hydrogenolytic activity and GBL yield increased following the same pattern as that obtained for the extent of Ni2+ phase. In addition, the effect of raising temperature on hydrogenolytic activity was more important in the case of Ni-I and CuNi-I than for CuNi-PD. Furthermore, CuNi-PD was more selective to GBL than CuNi-I. These results showed that there is an important effect of Cu addition and preparation method on both the structure and catalytic performance of the metal Ni phase.