Impact of oxygen vacancies in Ni supported mixed oxide catalysts on anisole hydrodeoxygenation

The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) activity of anisole has been investigated over Ni catalysts on mixed metal oxide supports containing NbZr and TiZr in 1:1 and 1:4 ratios. XRD patterns indicate the incorporation of Ti (or Nb) into the ZrO2 framework. XPS and oxygen pulse chemisorption analyses reveal that Ni/Ti1Zr4 and Ni/Nb1Zr4 possessed more oxygen vacancy sites than Ni/Ti1Zr1 and Ni/Nb1Zr1, respectively. Correspondingly, the HDO activity of Ni/Ti1Zr4 and Ni/Nb1Zr4 was higher with an anisole conversion up to 30.7 and 34.4%, with high selectivity towards benzene (up to 64.7 and 63.3%), compared to corresponding Ni/Ti1Zr1 and Ni/Nb1Zr1 catalysts.