Role of the metal-support interface in the hydrodeoxygenation reaction of phenol

In this work, the effect of interfacial sites between Pd particles and Nb2O5 species is investigated by testing a series of Pd-Nb2O5/SiO2 catalysts with different niobium loadings for the HDO reaction of phenol in the gas phase. Important differences in the selectivity to deoxygenated product were observed depending on the presence of niobium oxide close to Pd particles, which reveals the key role of the type of active phase in the control of reaction steps. It was found that Pd/SiO2 catalyst promotes hydrogenation pathways, producing cyclohex-anone as the major product. For Pd-Nb2O5/SiO2 catalyst containing a Nb/Pd molar ratio of 0.5, a sharp increase in the selectivity to benzene is observed (7.5-fold). Increasing the Nb/Pd molar ratio, the formation of benzene is enhanced. The results showed that the Pd-Nb2O5 interface, composed by an oxophilic oxide in the perimeter of the metal particle, is responsible for the activation of the C-O bond, promoting the deoxygenation reaction.Peer reviewe