Hydrodeoxygenation of bio-oil model compounds over Ni- and Pt-catalysts supported on hydrophobized halloysite nanotubes

Abstract

The development of active and stable catalysts for liquid-phase hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of bio-oil derived from lignocellulose is challenging. We have proposed a strategy for the design of Ni- and Pt-containing catalysts supported on halloysite nanotubes hydrophobized with organic silanes. The hydrophobization of aluminosilicate nanotubes promotes the fixation of active nanoparticles on the inner surface of the halloysite, providing stability to the obtained catalytic systems under HDO conditions. The activity of the catalysts obtained was studied in the HDO of model bio-oil compounds in batch reactors at temperatures of 120–180 °C, a hydrogen pressure of 3 MPa and a molar ratio of reagent to metal of 200, using water as the solvent. A Pt/HNT-S16 catalyst, based on the hexadecyltriethoxysilane-modified halloysite, showed a high activity (TOF = 905 h⁻¹) and increased stability (TON = 522) in an aqueous environment in the HDO of anisole (10 wt% aqueous solution).