Advantage of carbon coverage over Al2O3 as support for Ni/C-Al2O3 catalyst in vapour phase hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline

5wt% of Ni supported on activated carbon, Al2O3 and Carbon covered Al2O3 (C-Al2O3) prepared by impregnation technique have been subjected to nitrobenzene hydrogenation at atmospheric pressure in vapour phase conditions. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET surface area, TPR and H-2-Pulse chemisorption. Among the catalysts, Ni/C-Al2O3 catalyst exhibited excellent and steady activity in the nitrobenzene hydrogenation at 498 K which can be attributed to the presence of smaller Ni particles with proper metal support interaction. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.