Supported Ultrafine NiCo Bimetallic Alloy Nanoparticles Derived from Bimetal–Organic Frameworks: A Highly Active Catalyst for Furfuryl Alcohol Hydrogenation

• Published in: ACS catalysis Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 2121 - 2128
• Main Authors: Wang, Huanjun, Li, Xiaodan, Lan, Xiaocheng, Wang, Tiefeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 02-03-2018
• Subjects: NiCo bimetallic catalyst; furfuryl alcohol; tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol; subnanometer; hydrogenation; metal−organic framework
• ISSN: 2155-5435; 2155-5435
• DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.7b03795

Highly dispersed NiCo bimetallic alloy nanoparticles have been successfully immobilized on the SiO2 frameworks by using heteronuclear metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as metal alloy precursors. Catalyst characterizations revealed that the average size of NiCo alloy particles was less than 1 nm, with a total metal loading of about 20 wt %. As compared to individual Ni or Co MOF-derived catalysts and the catalysts prepared by the conventional impregnation method, the ultrafine NiCo/SiO2-MOF catalyst showed a much better catalytic performance in the catalytic hydrogenation of furfuryl alcohol (FA) to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) under mild conditions, giving 99.8% conversion of FA and 99.1% selectivity to THFA. It was found that a significant synergistic effect existed between Co and Ni within the subnanometer NiCo/SiO2-MOF catalyst, which was 2 and 20 times more active than Ni/SiO2-MOF and Co/SiO2-MOF, respectively.