Selective Hydrogenation of Fatty Acids to Fatty Alcohols over Bifunctional Ni-Mo-Based Catalyst Supported on Zr-SBA-15

A highly efficient and cost-effective Ni-Mo/Zr-SBA-15 catalyst was developed for the selective hydrogenation of biomass-derived oleic acid to octadecanol, a high-value fatty alcohol. By systematically optimizing the Ni/Mo weight ratio and varying the ZrOx content, the 10Ni-10Mo/10Zr-SBA-15 catalyst exhibited excellent performance, achieving 100% conversion and 93.5% selectivity to octadecanol at 220 °C and 3.0 MPa of H2. Characterization results revealed that Mo species enhanced Ni dispersion, while the synergistic Ni-MoOx interfacial sites contributed to the high catalytic performance. Metallic Ni is the main active site for H2 activation/dissociation. The incorporation of Mo species in the 10Ni/10Zr-SBA-15 catalyst increased the density of oxygen vacancies and enhanced the amount of Lewis acid sites. Additionally, ZrOx species contributed to the properties of the SBA-15 support, introducing more Lewis acid sites to the catalyst. The combined effect of metallic sites, oxygen vacancy/redox centers, and Lewis acidity facilitated the hydrogenation process, C–O/C = O bond activation, and strengthened oleic acid adsorption, which was crucial for octadecanol production. Moreover, the 10Ni-10Mo/10Zr-SBA-15 catalyst demonstrated high stability and reusability, maintaining its activity over four consecutive reaction cycles without significant deactivation.