Nickel Molybdenum Bimetallic Nitrides as Efficient Catalysts for the Hydrodeoxygenation of Methyl Palmitate

Highly efficient catalysts play an important role in the effective use of biomass oil to produce clean fuel. In this work, pure-phase Ni−Mo bimetallic nitrides (Ni₂Mo₃N and Ni₃Mo₃N) with different stoichiometric ratios are prepared by temperature-programmed nitridation of the metal oxide precursors in ammonia, which are investigated in the hydrodeoxygenation of methyl palmitate in the fixed-bed reactor at moderate conditions. The physical and chemical properties of catalysts were evaluated by H₂-TPR, XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and CO chemisorption. The Ni₂Mo₃N catalyst presents the best methyl palmitate hydrogenation activity (con.%=95.4 %) and the maximum hexadecane selectivity (95.0 %), which is obviously higher than those of Ni₃Mo₃N and Mo₂N catalysts. By introducing transition metal Ni into the Mo₂N lattice to form nickel-molybdenum bimetallic nitride, the lattice structure and electronic structure of the Mo active center have been changed, which greatly enhances the hydrodeoxygenation performances for the transformation of biomass oil to clean fuel.