Highly dispersed Ru nanoparticles anchored on NiAl layered double oxides catalyst for selective hydrodeoxygenation of vanillin

The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of lignin-derived feedstocks into value-added chemicals with high efficiency and selectivity is desirable for the utilization of biomass resource. The complex oxygen-containing groups of lignin-derived substance result in the challenge of the low selectivity toward the required product. In this work, highly dispersed Ru nanoparticles anchored on Ni3Al1 layered double oxides (LDOs) catalyst derived from NiAl layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with flower-shaped morphology was constructed by a simple deposition-reduction method. The introduction of LDHs-derived support can significantly impact the catalytic activity for the HDO of lignin-derived vanillin (VL) into 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (MMP). The Ru/Ni3Al1-400 catalyst obtained complete conversion of VL and 94.2% yield of MMP at 130 °C in methanol solvent, much better than the catalysts without LDHs-derived support. The methanol solvent is beneficial for the conversion of reaction intermediate of vanillin alcohol (VA). Detailed characterization reveals that the existence of the enhanced metal-support interaction over Ru/Ni3Al1-400 and the easily accessible acid sites facilitate the production of MMP.