Preparation of highly loaded and dispersed Ni/SiO2 catalysts

A highly loaded and dispersed Ni/SiO2-B catalyst was prepared by the precipitation method with an n-butanol drying process. Drying with n-butanol significantly increased the surface area of the catalyst as well as the reducibility and dispersion of supported nickel, leading to the high active nickel surface area (66 m(2)/g-catalyst). In addition, the surface acidity of the Ni/SiO2-B catalyst was significantly enhanced, as probed by the microcalorimetric adsorption of ammonia. Accordingly, this catalyst adsorbed great amount of toluene with the high initial heat of about 140 kJ/mol, and exhibited high activity for the hydrogenation of toluene to methyl cyclohexane. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.