A novel surface modification approach for synthesizing supported nickel phosphide catalysts with high activity for hydrodeoxygenation of benzofuran

摘要

A novel and simple surface modification approach for preparing a highly active nickel phosphide hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) catalyst is proposed, in which the original nickel phosphide catalyst is modified with oxygen at 373 K under a flow of air for 1 h instead of being passivated with an O-2/N-2 mixture. In this way, no pre-treatment of the catalyst prior to reaction is needed. The effect of surface modification with oxygen on catalytic performance in HDO of benzofuran was investigated. This surface modification apparently promotes the formation of smaller Ni2P particles in catalyst, favoring more dissociation of molecular hydrogen. The Ni2P preparation step is simplified and therefore energy-efficient, and the obtained catalyst exhibits a much higher O-free products yield (88%) than that with the unmodified catalyst (38%). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.