Nano-sized nickel catalyst for deep hydrogenation of lignin monomers and first-principles insight into the catalyst preparation

A type of nano-sized Ni catalyst supported by ZSM-5 zeolite for the deep hydrogenation of lignin monomers is prepared by borohydride reduction of a Ni²⁺–pyridine complex in ethanol. The mechanism of the borohydride reduction over the full range from Ni²⁺to Ni⁰is calculated by applying density functional theory.