Raney Ni as a Versatile Catalyst for Biomass Conversion

Raney Ni is a class of fine-grained heterogeneous catalysts composed mostly of nickel that is widely applied in organic synthesis and a large number of industry processes. In the past 10 years, various excellent research achievements have been obtained due to the emerging field of biomass conversion, which opened another dimension to this catalyst. This review starts with a brief introduction to the history of Raney Ni from its creation to its development. The subsequent sections provide a comprehensive discussion of the synthetic strategies and their controls from the perspective of structure and composition. We focus especially on the current applications in biomass conversion, including the catalytic upgrading of raw biomass resources and the derived platform chemicals. In this review, we try to gain a great understanding of this unique catalyst and its special role in biomass conversion in comparison with supported Ni catalysts. The outstanding catalytic performance of Raney Ni may inspire researchers to explore more elegant preparation methods and emerging applications.