Effects of the precipitation agents and rare earth additives on the structure and catalytic performance in glycerol hydrogenolysis of Cu/SiO2 catalysts prepared by precipitation-gel method

• The surface structure and catalytic performance in glycerol hydrogenolysis of the Cu/SiO2 catalysts differ greatly by the precipitation agents applied.
• The catalyst precipitated with NaOH presented the highest activity and stability.
• The incorporation of Y and La to Cu/SiO2 catalyst could greatly inhibit the sintering and deactivation of the catalyst.

The effects of the precipitation agents (NaOH, Na2CO3, NH4OH and NH4HCO3) and rare earth additives (La, Ce, Y, Pr and Sm) were studied on the structure and catalytic performance in glycerol hydrogenolysis of the Cu/SiO2 catalysts prepared by precipitation-gel method. The physical–chemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by means of FTIR, H2-TPR, N2O chemisorption, XRD, XPS, BET and TEM. The results showed that precipitation agents had obvious effects on the phase structure, reduction property and catalytic performances (activity, selectivity and stability) of the catalysts. The Cu/SiO2 catalyst precipitated with NaOH presented the highest activity and stability than those with other precipitants, most likely due to its more even dispersion of Cu particles, higher resistant to sintering during glycerol reaction. The incorporation of rare earth additives to Cu/SiO2 catalyst could promote the structural stability and inhibit the sintering and leaching of the catalysts, especially noticeable for Y and La, and thus contribute to the long-term stability of the catalysts. Clearly, this study provides directions for the design of more efficient and stable Cu catalysts toward the industrial application of glycerol hydrogenolysis.

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