Catalytic hydrogenolysis of lignin over Ni/CeO2-Al2O3 catalysts with formic acid as hydrogen source

Lignin is an aromatic polymer with prospects for producing high value-added chemicals. In this study, hydrogenolysis of alkaline lignin was carried out at 240 °C for 8 h in a hydrothermal kettle using Ni/xCeO2-yAl2O3 as catalyst and formic acid as hydrogen source. Compared with Ni catalysts supported by single oxides, the results showed that Ni/xCeO2-yAl2O3 composite-supported catalysts exhibited better catalytic depolymerization performance with higher bio-oil yields. Among them, Ni/1CeO2–3Al2O3 exhibited the most outstanding catalytic activity, with a bio-oil yield of 52.77 wt% and a phenolic compound yield of 7.21 wt%.