Lignin conversion
processes produce carbon-rich residues [J. Anal.
Appl. Pyrolysis2015113713722; Chem. Rev.201011035523599] that can be converted into valuable materials
such as magnetic activated carbons (MACs). Such lignin-derived MACs
can be further used as functional substrates for hydrotreating NiMo
catalysts. In this work, we studied the activity of different NiMo-MACs
for the catalytic conversion of lignin in a formic acid/ethanol media
(lignin-to-liquid, LtL, process). Two KOH-activated LtL hydrochars
from eucalyptus (MACE) and Norwegian spruce (MACS) lignins were used
as catalyst supports. In addition, the activity of the resulting NiMo-MACs,
namely, C-MACE and C-MACS, was compared with a NiMo catalyst supported
on a commercial activated carbon (AC). At reaction conditions of 340
°C and 6 h, the best result was obtained for the NiMo-MACS with
a yield of 72.2 wt % of oil and 21.1 wt % of organic solids. At 300
°C and 10 h, both NiMo-MAC catalysts displayed higher hydrodeoxygenation
(HDO) activities than their commercial counterpart, yielding considerably
higher oil yields. The higher HDO activities are tentatively assigned
to the formation of NiFe species on the catalytic surfaces of the
NiMo-MAC catalysts. In addition, the magnetism exhibited by the C-MACS
made it easy to recover the catalyst. However, a considerable loss
of activity was observed upon recycling due to a chemical modification
of the catalyst surface.