Hydrogenolysis of carbon–oxygen
bonds is a versatile synthetic
method, of which hydrogenolysis of bioderived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural
(HMF) to furanic fuels is especially attractive. However, low-temperature
hydrogenolysis (in particular over non-noble catalysts) is challenging.
Herein, nickel nanoparticles (NPs) inlaid nickel phyllosilicate (NiSi-PS)
are presented for efficient hydrogenolysis of HMF to yield furanic
fuels at 130–150 °C, being much superior with impregnated
Ni/SiO2 catalysts prepared from the same starting materials.
NiSi-PS also shows a 2-fold HMF conversion intrinsic rate and 3-fold
hydrogenolysis rate compared with the impregnated Ni/SiO2. The superior performance originated from the synergy of highly
dispersed nickel NPs and substantially formed acid sites due to coordinatively
unsaturated Ni (II) sites located at the remnant nickel phyllosilicate
structure, as revealed by detailed characterizations. The model reactions
over the other reference catalysts further highlighted the metal–acid
synergy for hydrogenolysis reactions. NiSi-PS can also efficiently
catalyze low-temperature hydrogenolysis of bioderived furfural and
5-methylfurfural, demonstrating a great potential for other hydrogenolysis
reactions.
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