Catalytic transformation of ethanol to methane and butene over NiO NPs supported over mesoporous SBA-15

Abstract Hexagonally ordered mesoporous silica material SBA-15 with thick pore wall is an ideal catalytic support for immobilizing reactive tiny metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) due to its large pore size, high specific surface area, excellent feasibility for the immobilization of NPs and robust nature of the mesoporous framework. NiO@SBA-15 nanocomposite material has been synthesised through non-ionic surfactant assisted hydrothermal synthesis of SBA-15 followed by calcination, functionalization and impregnation. The material has been thoroughly characterized by using powder XRD, N2 sorption, XPS and NH3-TPD. NiO@SBA-15 with ca. 13 % Ni(II) loading displayed specific surface area of 409 m2 g−1 and weak surface acidity. NiO@SBA-15 showed good catalytic activity for conversion of ethanol to hydrocarbon fuels, specifically C1 and C4 hydrocarbons at 300 C together with the production of hydrogen in almost stoichiometric amount. Further increase in the reaction temperature favoured cracking to yield methane as the major product. Supported NiO NPs acts as efficient catalytic centre for the conversion of ethanol to hydrocarbon fuels, which is an alternate to fossil fuel. Catalytic process is environment friendly and sustainable as the feedstock ethanol can be easily obtained from biomass resources.