Efficient Hydrogenation of Xylose and Hemicellulosic Hydrolysate to Xylitol over Ni-Re Bimetallic Nanoparticle Catalyst

A disadvantage of the commercial Raney Ni is that the Ni active sites are prone to leaching and deactivation in the hydrogenation of xylose to xylitol. To explore a more stable and robust catalyst, activated carbon (AC) supported Ni-Re bimetallic catalysts (Ni-Re/AC) were synthesized and used to hydrogenate xylose and hemicellulosic hydrolysate into xylitol under mild reaction conditions. In contrast to the monometallic Ni/AC catalyst, bimetallic Ni-Re/AC exhibited better catalytic performances in the hydrogenation of xylose to xylitol. A high xylitol yield up to 98% was achieved over Ni-Re/AC (n(Ni):n(Re) = 1:1) at 140 °C for 1 h. In addition, these bimetallic catalysts also had superior hydrogenation performance in the conversion of the hydrolysate derived from the hydrolysis reaction of the hemicellulose of Camellia oleifera shell. The characterization results showed that the addition of Re led to the formation of Ni-Re alloy and improved the dispersion of Ni active sites. The recycled experimental results revealed that the monometallic Ni and the bimetallic Ni-Re catalysts tended to deactivate, but the introduction of Re was able to remarkably improve the catalyst’s stability and reduce the Ni leaching during the hydrogenation reaction.