Highly selective catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of Caromatic-OH in bio-oil to cycloalkanes on a Ce-Ni-W-B amorphous catalyst

This study focused on the preparation of Ce-Ni-W-B amorphous catalysts and the effect of Ce content on their catalytic activities in the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenols in bio-oil. Adding the promoter Ce could increase the content of Ni-0 and WO3 on the Ce-Ni-W-B catalyst surface, leading to the improvement of the deoxygenation activity, but excess Ce would cover some active sites, resulting in a reduction of the catalytic activity. Because of the amorphous structure and the electron transfer between Ni-0 and B-0, these catalysts possess very high hydrogenation activity, making the HDO of phenols on these amorphous catalysts proceed with a hydrogenation-dehydration route, which not only decreases the aromatic content in the product but also the reaction temperature. With an optimal Ce content (2.5 mol%), the total aromatic selectivity reduced to 1.0% and the HDO reaction temperature decreased to 498 K. This research provides a high activity catalyst for transforming phenols into cycloalkanes.