Study on Catalytic Property of Bimetallic Cu‐Ni/SiO2 Hollow Spheres Prepared under Moderate Conditions

Abstract Bimetallic Cu−Ni (Cu/Ni 2/1) silicate hollow spheres with the controllable morphology have been synthesized successfully using one‐step sacrificial templating method under hydrothermal conditions. Following with in situ reduction in the hydrogen atmosphere under 350 °C for 5 h, Cu−Ni/SiO 2 catalyst was obtained. The as‐prepared products were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, BET and TPR. The morphology of Cu−Ni silicate changed from core‐shell spheres, yolk‐shell spheres to hollow spheres by adjusting the synthetic time. Because of synergistic effect of nickel and copper, the hydrothermal conditions of bimetallic Cu−Ni silicate were changed to 120 °C‐3 h, which was the lower temperature and the shorter time in comparison with the synthetic conditions of monometal Ni 3 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 and CuSiO 3 . Under different temperature and pressure, the catalytic property of Cu−Ni/SiO 2 hollow spheres increased gradually with the temperature and pressure rising. The conversion of nitrobenzene could reach 100 % under 120 °C or 4 Mpa within 3 h.