The effect of adding iron, cobalt
or nickel to a prepared niobium-supported
catalyst using mesoporous silica SBA-15 as a support was evaluated
in the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction of anisole, chosen as a model
compound in lignocellulosic biomass derived bio-oil. HDO activity
as well as selectivity toward O-free products were highly dependent
on the catalyst formulation: Ni incorporation showed the highest anisole
conversion and selectivity to deoxygenated products, followed by Co
and Fe counterparts. The activity was explained in terms of acidity,
metal surface exposure and reducibility as a function of the interaction
between the phases present. Regarding the characterization results,
the better performance of NiNb/SBA-15 was associated with its lower
acidity, higher Nb/Si surface exposure, NbO
2
/Nb
2
O
5
ratio and better interaction between Ni and Nb species.
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