Hydrogelator as growth-controlling agent for enhancing the catalytic activity of NiB amorphous alloy catalyst

A series of NiB-x (x denotes as the molar ratio of hydrogelator:Ni) amorphous alloys were prepared using a hydrogelator, 2,4-(3,4-dichlorobenzylidene)-d-sorbitol (DCBS), as the controlling agent and were tested in the selective hydrogenation of benzophenone to benzhydrol. The effect of different amounts of DCBS addition on the activity of the NiB amorphous alloys was investigated. The addition of small amounts of DCBS during NiB preparation could markedly improve its activity. The conversion of benzophenone was 96.6% and the yield of benzhydrol can reach 82.0% under the optimal reaction conditions over the NiB-0.015 catalyst. The high activity of NiB catalysts is attributed to the regulation effect of three-dimensional networks formed by DCBS, which could inhibit the agglomeration of NiB particles during preparation and make them more dispersed, resulting in larger surface areas and more active Ni sites. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, transmission electron microscopy, H2-chemisorption and temperature-programmed desorption of hydrogen measurements indicated these results.