Boosting the Hydrodeoxygenation Activity and Selectivity of Ni/(M)-SBA-15 Catalysts by Chemical Alteration of the Support.

The influence of the acid sites in the hydrodeoxygenation of anisole performed over Ni catalysts supported on SBA-15 modified with metal oxides (Ni/M-SBA-15, M = Ti, Zr, Al, or Nb) was demonstrated. Catalysts were characterized by SEM-EDX, nitrogen physisorption, XRD, UV-visible DRS, TPR, TPD of ammonia, IR-Py, O chemisorption, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The mesoporous structure and the hexagonal arrangement of the supports were maintained in the catalysts. Ni catalysts supported on modified M-SBA-15 exhibited a higher metal-support interaction, an increase in the acidity and, as a consequence, improved selectivity to cyclohexane. The deoxygenation reaction rate constants increased as Ni/SBA-15 < Ni/Ti-SBA-15 < Ni/Nb-SBA-15 < Ni/Zr-SBA-15 < Ni/Al-SBA-15, which is attributed to the increase in the amount and strength of acid sites, especially of the Brønsted ones, which promotes the cleavage of the C-O bond. It is also important to keep the metal/acid sites together to obtain high activity and selectivity to hydrodeoxygenated products.