Understanding the Performance and Stability of Supported Ni-Co-Based Catalysts in Phenol HDO

Performances of bimetallic catalysts (Ni-Co) supported on different acidic carriers (HZSM-5, HBeta, HY, ZrO2) and corresponding monometallic Ni catalysts in aqueous phase hydrodeoxygenation of phenol were compared in batch and continuous flow modes. The results revealed that the support acidity plays an important role in deoxygenation as it mainly controls the oxygen-removing steps in the reaction network. At the same time, sufficient hydrothermal stability of a solid catalyst is essential. Batch experiments revealed 10Ni10Co/HZSM-5 to be the best-performing catalyst in terms of conversion and cyclohexane yield. Complementary continuous runs provided more insights into the relationship between catalyst structure, efficiency and stability. After 24 h on-stream, the catalyst still reveals 100% conversion and a slight loss (from 100% to 90%) in liquid hydrocarbon selectivity. The observed alloy of Co with Ni increased dispersion and stability of Ni-active sites, and combination with HZSM-5 resulted in a well-balanced ratio of metal and acid sites which promoted all necessary steps in preferred pathways. This was proved by studies of fresh and spent catalysts using various characterization techniques (N2 physisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine (pyr-IR))