Mesoporous silicas as supports for Ni catalyst used in cellulose conversion to hydrogen rich gas

This work was devoted to the investigation of the influence of the surface properties of nickel catalysts supported on different mesoporous silicas on their activity in thermo-chemical conversion of cellulose (the main constituent of lignocellulosic biomass) to hydrogen rich gas. The catalysts containing 20% of Ni introduced by impregnation on SBA-15, SBA-16, KIT-6, MCM-41 and SiO2 surface were synthesized. The surface properties of the prepared catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) methods. Acidity of the catalysts, surface area, pore volume and pore diameter were also determined. The obtained results revealed that an application of the synthesized catalysts to high temperature cellulose conversion process increased the amount of produced hydrogen. A rise in the hydrogen yield was possible owing to the choice of stable catalysts having an optimal combination of surface acidity, surface area, pore volume, pore diameter and localization, and accessibility of nickel crystallites.