Influences of Different Active Carbons on the Catalytic Performance of Ni/C Catalysts for Vapor-Phase Carbonylation of Ethanol

Different active carbons, i.e. bamboo charcoal, cylindrical coal, fruit carbon. wood charcoal, and coconut charcoal, were used to prepare Ni/C catalysts for vapor-phase carbonylation of ethanol. The results revealed that the Ni/CC catalyst showed the highest catalytic activity for ethanol carbonylation with 96.1% of ethanol conversion and 93.2% of propionic acid selectivity, but the Ni/BC catalyst showed the lowest activity with 63.0% of ethanol conversion and 32.7% of propionic acid selectivity. The Ni/C catalysts were characterized by CO adsorption and temperature-programmed reduction. Meanwhile, N-2 physical adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed desorption were used to investigate the structural properties, the species and quantities of surface oxygen functional groups of active carbons. It was found that the catalytic performance of the Ni/C catalysts depended on the nature of active carbons greatly.