Effects of TiO2 Support and Cobalt Addition of Ni/TiO2 Catalyst in Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

Abstract

An effect of phase compositions (rutile, Rut and anatase, Ant) of TiO2 supports on the selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol was investigated. The 15%wt Ni/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by incipient impregnation method. The result showed that Ni supported on anatase-rutile mixed phase TiO2 (91% Rut and 9% Ant, A2) provided the highest furfuryl alcohol yield at 43.8% due to the relatively strong Ni-TiO2 interaction, its appro-priate crystallite sizes, and high average pore sizes. Furthermore, the effect of cobalt as a promoter on Ni/ TiO2-A2 catalysts was studied. The result showed that the Ni-Co/TiO2-A2 catalysts exhibited poorer catalyst per-formances compared to the monometallic Ni/TiO2, probably because addition of cobalt can lower the reduction temperatures of Ni/TiO2 and weaken the metal-support interaction.