Polymer-based bifunctional catalysts for anthracene hydrocracking in the medium of supercritical propanol-2

In this work, novel bifunctional catalysts based on the polymeric network of hypercrosslinked polystyrene were developed for the process of anthracene hydrocracking in the medium of supercritical propanol-2. The synthesized catalysts contain NiOOH as an active phase and the SiO2 as Bronsted acid sites supported on the highly porous support. The influence of the synthesis method and silica precursor type on the textural properties and the active phase composition was studied. The catalyst obtained by the hydrothermal method using tetraethoxysilane as a silica precursor seems to be the most optimal providing both high surface area, bimodal pore size distribution, and high acidity, and, thus, higher catalytic activity in anthracene hydrocracking.