Electronic and surface engineering of Mo doped Ni@C nanocomposite boosting catalytic upgrading of aqueous bio-ethanol to bio-jet fuel precursors

Direct upgrading of aqueous bio-ethanol into higher alcohols is an emerging and highly attractive protocol to produce bio-fuels. However, it remains a great challenge to achieve high yield and selectivity of long-carbon chain higher alcohols, especially for C8+ alcohols. Herein, the carbon encapsulated NiMo catalysts were designed and fabricated for direct upgrading of aqueous bio-ethanol. The [email protected] catalyst with Ni/Mo ratio of 6/1 exhibited excellent performance with 89.4 % of bio-ethanol conversion and 42.1C-mol% of higher alcohols yield. The selectivity of C8-16 products reached 44.7 %, which can be directly hydrodeoxygenated to produce bio-jet fuels. Characterization and DFT calculation results revealed that the doping of Mo tuned the electronic state of Ni and modified the surface properties (i.e., hydrophilicity, lipophilicity, and [OH]− adsorption), which enhanced the interaction of active site (NiMo-[OH]−) with intermediate aldehyde in the oil phase and promoted secondary upgrading reaction to form C8-16 alcohols. This work provides a promising approach to produce bio-jet fuels by direct upgrading of biomass fermentation ethanol.