NiCo and NiCo Decorated with Ru Nanoparticles for Magnetically Induced Hydroprocessing of Lignin Models
Jaime Mazarío, Irene Mustieles Marín, Gabriel Mencia, Christian W. Lopes, Víctor Varela‐Izquierdo, Giovanni Agostini, Pier‐Francesco Fazzini, Nicolas Ratel‐Ramond, Bruno Chaudret
Abstract
A series of bimetallic Ni 10– x Co x ( x: 2, 3, 4, 5) nanoparticles have been prepared using the organometallic approach from Ni[ i PrNC(CH 3 )N i Pr] 2 and Co[N(SiMe 3 ) 2 ] 2 (thf) precursors. Structural characterization by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed a bimetallic structure with a face-centered cubic (fcc) Ni-rich core and ultrasmall (≤2 nm) hcp Co nanoparticles decorating it. Magnetic and magnetic hyperthermia properties were measured by vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and calorimetry, respectively. Moreover, the Ni 7 Co 3 composition was shown to be a stable heterogeneous catalyst for diphenyl ether (DPE) hydrogenation under magnetic induction. Remarkably, the Ni 7 Co 3 system before and after its decoration with a small amount of Ru (1 wt %) was transposed to the low-pressure hydrogenation of lignin-linkage models and lignin-oil molecules. The results showed that the system had moderate activity in cleaving different ether C–O bonds and was effective in upgrading lignin oils through hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), with a significant preference to produce cyclohexanols. This study represents a significant step toward applications of magnetic-induced catalysis in the field of biomass valorization.