Furfural Hydrogenation on Nickel-promoted Cu-containing Catalysts Prepared from Hydrotalcite-Like Precursors

The nickel-promoted Cu-containing catalysts (CuxNiy-MgAlO) for furfural (FFR) hydrogenation were prepared from the hydrotalcite-like precursors, and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra and temperature-programmed reduction with H2 in the present work. The obtained catalysts were observed to exhibit a better catalytic property than the corresponding Cu-MgAlO or Ni-MgAlO samples in FFR hydrogenation, and the CuNi-MgAlO catalyst with the actual Cu and Ni loadings of 12.5 wt% and 4.5 wt%, respectively, could give the highest FFR conversion (93.2%) and furfuryl alcohol selectivity (89.2%). At the same time, Cu0 species from the reduction of Cu2+ ions in spinel phases were deduced to be more active for FFR hydrogenation.