NiCu-based catalysts for the low-temperature hydrodeoxygenation of anisole:Effect of the metal ratio on SiO_(2)andγ-Al_(2)O_(3)supports

The effects of the metal ratio of NiCu catalysts on the low-temperature hydrodeoxygenation(HDO)of anisole were assessed on a neutral SiO_(2) and an acidicγ-Al_(2)O_(3) support.The activity of SiO_(2)-supported catalysts increases with the Ni content in the NiCu phase,related to Ni’s hydrogenation capacity.In contrast,on aγ-Al_(2)O_(3) support,the activity decreases with the Ni content.Overall,Al_(2)O_(3)-supported catalysts,exhibiting a smaller NiCu alloy particle size,are more active than SiO_(2)-supported ones.In terms of selectivity,SiO_(2)-supported catalysts mainly hydrogenate anisole to methoxycyclohexane,while,particularly at higher conversions,γ-Al_(2)O_(3)-supported catalysts are able to further convert methoxycyclohexane to cyclohexane,demonstrating the importance of acid sites for low-temperature HDO.The Ni/Cu ratio also steers the selectivity,but not the catalyst stability.Deactivation phenomena are only support dependent:while on SiO_(2)-supported catalysts,active site sintering occurs,attributed to weak stabilization of metal particles by the support,acid catalyzed coking is the main cause of deactivation on theγ-Al_(2)O_(3)-supported catalysts.