Catalytic performance and deoxygenation path of methyl palmitate on Ni2P/SiO2 synthesized using the thermal decomposition of nickel hypophosphite

摘要

In this paper, the catalytic performance and deoxygenation path of methyl palmitate on Ni2P/SiO2 catalysts were systematically studied in a continuous flow fixed-bed reactor. A series of Ni2P/SiO2 catalysts (with different molar ratios of P/Ni and Ni2P loadings) were synthesized at 300 degrees C using the thermal decomposition of nickel hypophosphite. The increased molar ratio of P/Ni generates phosphate-rich nickel phosphide catalysts and increasing conversion. Interestingly, Ni2P/SiO2 showed significantly higher conversion of methyl palmitate in comparison with Ni/SiO2. Furthermore, an activation temperature higher than 500 degrees C would significantly reduce the catalytic activity, as a result of the sintering of Ni2P. The pressure in a range of 3.0 to 0.5 MPa almost has no effect on the deoxygenation of methyl palmitate, but significantly affects the reaction path and product distribution. Finally, a possible deoxygenation path over Ni2P/SiO2 was proposed based on a GC-MS investigation.