Highly efficient hydrodeoxygenation of lignin-derivatives over Ni-based catalyst

Designing highly active non-noble metal catalysts for the hydrodeoxygenation of renewable biomass into value added biofuels and chemicals is highly desirable, but still remains a challenging task. In this work, flower-like Ni catalysts supported on mixed metal oxides (MMO) were fabricated by calcination and reduction of NiZnAl layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors. The optimized Ni0.5Zn1.5Al1-MMO catalyst displayed excellent hydrodeoxygenation catalytic activity for lignin derivatives at 130 C, being much superior with the catalysts prepared by impregnation and coprecipitation method, as well as most of the reported non-noble catalysts. The superior activity originated from the synergetic effect of large specific surface area of the support, strong metalsupport interaction and more acid sites. This research provides a feasible route for the constructing efficient hydrodeoxygenation catalysts by tuning the physicochemical property and composition of the catalyst.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that flower-like Ni catalysts supported on mixed metal oxides exhibit excellent activity, mainly due to the large specific surface area of the support and strong interaction between the metal and support. By tuning the properties and composition of the catalyst, efficient hydrodeoxygenation catalysts can be constructed.