The Catalytic Hydrogenation of Biomass Platform Molecules by Ni–Co Nanoalloy Catalysts

Ni–Co nanoalloy catalysts have been prepared by a simple solid phase reaction approach and were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed desorption of H₂ (H₂-TPD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Ni–Co nanoalloy catalyst was evaluated for hydrogenation of d-glucose under aqueous phase condition. The results indicated that the Ni–Co nanoalloy catalysts were more active than the single metal Ni or Co nano-catalyst. Moreover, Ni–Co nanoalloy catalyst with the molar ratio of Co/Ni = 1 showed the highest catalytic activity in hydrogenation reaction. It was observed that metallic Ni in Ni–Co nanoalloy was more negatively charged, which was favorable for improving the catalytic activity. In addition, the present catalyst was found to be extended for the efficient hydrogenation of the various biomass platform molecules, which showed comparable activity and selectivity with that of Pd/C catalyst. The XRD, TEM and XPS characterization of the spent nanoalloy catalyst indicated that the slight aggregation, crystallization, and surface oxidation happened in the consecutive catalytic recycles, resulting in the deactivation of catalyst. Finally, the reaction kinetics of d-glucose hydrogenation has been also investigated.