Preparation of Ni2P/Zr-MCM-41 catalyst and its performance in the hydrodeoxygenation of Jatropha curcas oil

With hydrothermally synthesized MCM-41 and Zr-MCM-41 as the supports, Ni2P/Zr-MCM-41 catalysts were prepared by co-impregnation with Ni(NO3)2 and (NH4)2HPO4 solution, calcination, reduction with H2 and subsequent passivation. The Ni2P/Zr-MCM-41 catalysts were characterized by XRD, Py-IR, TEM, XPS, N2 physisorption and CO chemisorption; their catalytic performance in the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of Jatropha curcas oil to produce the second-generation biodiesel was investigated in an autoclave. The results indicated that Ni2P can be well dispersed on Zr-MCM-41 with a loading of 20% by reduction at 650°C from the phosphate precursors. The Ni2P/Zr-MCM-41 catalyst exhibit excellent performance in the HDO of Jatropha curcas oil. Over the Ni2P/Zr-MCM-41 catalyst with a Ni2P loading of 20%, the HDO conversion achieves 93.90% and the fraction of linear paraffins in the product oil reaches 85.36%, in which diesel fraction (C15–20) may exceed 61.90%; the components of oil generated through HDO are similar to those of fossil diesel.