Highly Dispersed CoNi Alloy Embedded in N‐doped Graphitic Carbon for Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Biomass‐derived Furfural

Abstract The development of efficient, stable, and cost‐effective heterogeneous catalysts for catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of biomass‐derived furfural (FAL) is highly desired. Herein, series of N‐doped graphitic carbon embedded CoNi bimetallic alloy nanoparticles were fabricated and used for the CTH of FAL to value‐added furfuryl alcohol (FOL) with renewable isopropanol as hydrogen donor. Intrinsic catalytic activity examination indicated the catalytic performance of Ni x Co y @NGC (x:y=1 : 3, 1 : 1, 3 : 1) nanocatalysts were sensitive to their chemical compositions. The optimal Ni 1 Co 1 @NGC nanocatalyst with Ni/Co mole ratio of 1 : 1 afforded a largest FOL yield of 89.3% with nearly full conversion of FAL. The synergistic effect enabled by bimetallic alloys and the abundant N‐based Lewis base sites and surface Co−N active species were revealed based on systematic structural characterization, responsible for the excellent catalytic efficiency of bimetallic Ni 1 Co 1 @NGC nanocatalyst for CTH of FAL.