Ni and Cu based catalysts supported over Hbeta - Evaluation on hydrodesoxigenation of Benzaldehyde

ABSTRACT The activity and selectivity evaluation of nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) catalysts supported over Hbeta in the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction of benzaldehyde were studied. For this purpose, monometallic (10 wt.% of NiO or CuO) and bimetallic catalysts with 10 wt.% of NiO with different CuO (2.5 %, 5 %, 7.5 % and 10 % by wt.) were synthesized. The reaction was carried out in batch reactor with magnetic stirring at 220 °C. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 physisorption, hydrogen temperature programmed (TPR-H2), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in ultraviolet and visible regions (DRSUV-Vis), thermogravimetric analysis (TG / DTG). Results of the catalytic evaluation showed that the benzaldehyde was converted to benzyl alcohol, toluene and benzene. Ni10Cu7.5/Hbeta catalyst presented a conversion of 84.73 %, with selectivity to toluene around 91 %, presenting higher selectivity to deoxygenated products than Ni10Cu10/Hbeta, which can be related to the higher acidic sites present in the catalyst. The bimetallic catalysts were more active than the monometallic Ni and Cu. Thus the addition of Cu can contribute to a better performance of the Ni/Hbeta catalysts in the HDO reaction.