Preparation of MCM-41 supported Nickel NPs for high-efficiency semi-hydrogenation of acetylene

Semi-hydrogenation of acetylene is an essential step in the olefin industry. In recent years, little attention has been paid to the development of base metal catalysts for acetylene’s semi-hydrogenation. Nano nickel catalysts with different loading amounts were prepared by simple impregnation method in this study. Compared with other nonnoble-metallic catalysts, the supported nickel catalyst has higher activity and selectivity for acetylene selective hydrogenation. The results showed that the conversion and selectivity of Ni/MCM-41 catalyst were 96% and 87% respectively at 240 oC with the Ni loading of 25 wt% and the space velocity of 40000 h-1. The high activity was attributed to the high metal dispersion and the interaction between the metal and the carrier. In situ DRIFTS results confirmed the existence of π - bonded ethylene on the metal sites, which improved the selectivity of ethylene.