Phase regulation of Ni-based catalyst promotes selective hydrogenation of furfural: Effect of glycerol and Zn content

Accurate regulation of active components is of great significance to catalyst design. In this paper, a series of bimetallic carbide catalysts (NixZny@CN-G) were prepared using low-cost feed stock by the strategy of glycerol assisting Zn content, in which glycerol and Zn were used as phase modifiers. When used for the selective hydrogenation of biomass furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL), the FOL yield from the optimum catalyst Ni3Zn@CN-G was 9 times higher than that of Ni@CN without glycerol and Zn incorporation. The superior catalytic performance is ascribed to the high content of single Ni3ZnC0.7 phase in the catalyst. The characterization and DFT calculation show that Ni3ZnC0.7 phase promotes the activation of H2 and FAL. More importantly, the composition and content of catalyst phase can be adjusted by the Zn content change and glycerol assistance. Meanwhile, the effects of glycerol and Zn content on the catalytic reaction are discussed in detail. This work reveals the correlation between phase regulation and catalytic performance, which provides a new idea for phase design of catalysts and catalytic conversion of biomass.