Preparation of La-Ni-Mo-B amorphous catalyst and its catalytic properties for hydrodeoxygenation of phenol

Abstract

Lanthanum-promoted Ni-Mo-B amorphous catalysts were prepared by chemical reduction of the corresponding metal salts with sodium borohydride aqueous solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the resulting materials. Phenol was used as model compound to test the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) activity of the La-Ni-Mo-B amorphous catalysts. Adding lanthanum could decrease the particle size, increase the content of Ni 0 and promote the reduction of Mo 6+ to Mo 4+. But excess lanthanum would cover some of the Ni 0, and Mo 4+ active sites. The high hydrogenation activity was attributed to the amorphous structure of the catalyst and the high content of Ni 0 and the high degree of deoxygenation was attributed to the high content of MoO 2. The HDO reation of phenol on the La-Ni-Mo-B amorphous catalyst proceeded with a hydrogenation-dehydration route, thus decreasing the aromatic content of the HDO products. Both the conversion and the total deoxygenation degree were up to 99.0%. The deactivation of the La-Ni-Mo-B amorphous catalysts during the HDO reation of phenol at high temperature was mainly caused by the crystallization of the amorphous structure. © Editorial office of Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica.