Effect of the Nature of the Carbon Support on the Guaiacol Hydrodeoxygenation Performance of Nickel Phosphide: Comparison between Carbon Nanotubes and a Mesoporous Carbon Support

The influence of two different kinds of carbon support, carbon nanotubes or a mesoporous carbon, on the physicochemical properties of the nickel phosphide active phase and its catalytic performance in guaiacol hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), a bio oil model molecule, was herein studied. The carbon supports were characterized and used to synthesize Ni2P/C catalysts with the same theoretical number of Ni atoms per unit of surface area. Product selectivity data for guaiacol HDO showed that catalysts with tuned hydrogenating or deoxygenating character can be obtained by changing the carbon support. Moreover, the addition of Pd (mass fraction 1.0%) to Ni2P/C (used to lower the synthesis temperature of nickel phosphide) was also studied. Pd incorporation leads to the suppression of the direct hydrogenation of guaiacol but shows no significant effect in the hydrotreating/hydrogenation character of Ni2P/C in terms of final product selectivity.