Nickel-copper catalysts supported by boron and nitrogen co-doped activated carbon for gas phase carbonylation of ethanol

In this paper, nitrogen-doped, boron-doped and boron and nitrogen co-doped activated carbon supported nickel-copper was used as catalyst for ethanol gas-phase carbonylation reaction. The yield of propionic acid and ethyl propionate was improved greatly by boron and nitrogen co-doping. BET, XRD, XPS, TEM, and CO-TPD were used to study the effects of nitrogen and boron doping on catalytic performance. Nitrogen doping and boron doping improve the dispersion of metal on the surface of activated carbon. Aiming at the problem of low stability of nickel-based catalyst, the regeneration method of the catalyst was explored. The results show that the activity of the catalyst can be recovered by H-2 treatment at 400 celcius. According to the results of the catalyst regeneration experiment and the characterization of the catalyst before and after the reaction and regeneration, the cause for the deactivation of the catalyst were discussed. The results show that the formation of NiI2 is the main cause of catalyst deactivation.