Hydrodeoxygenation of Anisole over Ni/α-Al₂O₃ Catalyst

Ni-based catalysts supported on di erent supports (α-Al₂O₃,γ-Al₂O₃, SiO2, TiO₂, and ZrO₂) were prepared by impregnation. Effects of supports on catalytic performance were tested using hydrodeoxygenation reaction (HDO) of anisole as model reaction. Ni/α-Al₂O₃ was found to be the highest active catalyst for HDO of anisole. Under the optimal conditions, the anisole conversion is 93.25% and the hydrocarbon yield is 90.47%. Catalyst characteriza-tion using H₂-TPD method demonstrates that Ni/α-Al₂O₃ catalyst possesses more amount of active metal Ni than those of other investigated catalysts, which can enhance the cat-alytic activity for hydrogenation. Furthermore, it is found that the Ni/α-Al₂O₃ catalyst has excellent repeatability, and the carbon deposited on the surface of catalyst is negligible.