Regulating the TiO _x -Pt Interaction over Pt/TiN Catalyst for the Hydrodeoxygenation of <i>m</i> -cresol

Strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) imposes a substantial influence on hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenolics as a result of the bifunctional chemistry at the interfacial sites. However, particular attention has been paid to modulating the SMSI effect between metals and reducible metal oxides, in which the acid chemistry of the reducible oxides may accelerate coking during HDO reactions. In this work, we report a novel tuning of SMSI between Pt and TiOx via calcining TiN support at different temperatures. The Pt/TiN-300 catalyst (TiN calcined at 300 °C) delivers the highest activity and a relatively slow deactivation rate compared to other catalysts, which is ascribed to the optimal SMSI effect between Pt nanoparticles and the TiOx overlayer, as well as the modified chemistry by the remaining N atom. This work provides a new approach for the rational configuration of the SMSI effect, especially in response to the challenging HDO process.