Boosting the Hydrodeoxygenation Activity and Selectivity of Ni/(M)-SBA-15 Catalysts by Chemical Alteration of the Support

[Image: see text] The influence of the acid sites in the hydrodeoxygenation of anisole performed over Ni catalysts supported on SBA-15 modified with metal oxides (Ni/M-SBA-15, M = Ti, Zr, Al, or Nb) was demonstrated. Catalysts were characterized by SEM–EDX, nitrogen physisorption, XRD, UV–visible DRS, TPR, TPD of ammonia, IR-Py, O(2) chemisorption, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The mesoporous structure and the hexagonal arrangement of the supports were maintained in the catalysts. Ni catalysts supported on modified M-SBA-15 exhibited a higher metal-support interaction, an increase in the acidity and, as a consequence, improved selectivity to cyclohexane. The deoxygenation reaction rate constants increased as Ni/SBA-15 < Ni/Ti-SBA-15 < Ni/Nb-SBA-15 < Ni/Zr-SBA-15 < Ni/Al-SBA-15, which is attributed to the increase in the amount and strength of acid sites, especially of the Brønsted ones, which promotes the cleavage of the C–O bond. It is also important to keep the metal/acid sites together to obtain high activity and selectivity to hydrodeoxygenated products.