Lignin meets MOFs: Lignin derived metal carbon material for the catalytic hydrotreatment of guaiacol to cyclohexanol

Catalytic upgrading lignin-derived bio-oil with high oxygen content to directly usable transport fuel through hydrotreatment is highly desirable, but still remains a challenge. In this work, a series of Co-based catalysts were synthetized using metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as a structure-directing agent and lignin as a renewable carbon precursor via a simple hydrothermal method. Among these catalysts, Co/C-EL-0.5–500 showed the best catalytic hydrotreatment activity, affording 100% guaiacol conversion with 90% cyclohexanol yield under the conditions of 240 °C, 0 MPa N2 and 4 h. According to the characterization results of XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, ICP, NH3-TPD and XPS, the excellent performance of Co/C-EL-0.5–500 was attributed to large specific surface area, small Co particle size, and optimal acidity. The possible reaction pathway was proposed based on the product distribution. In addition, isopropanol was used as H-donor instead of extra hydrogen, and we hope that it could provide a novel strategy for bio-oil upgrading.