Highly dispersed molybdenum carbide nanoparticles supported on activated carbon as an efficient catalyst for the hydrodeoxygenation of vanillin

Abstract

Characterized by XRD and TEM, highly dispersed molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) nanoparticles with a diameter of 1–4 nm were effectively synthesized on activated carbon at 700 °C. The Mo₂C-based catalyst exhibited high activity and stability for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of vanillin under mild conditions (100 °C, 1.0 MPa of H₂, 3 h) in aqueous solution. According to the distribution of products with time, a HDO mechanism involving vanillyl alcohol as an intermediate product was proposed. Moreover, after being recycled several times, the loss of catalytic activity was negligible, which demonstrated that the Mo₂C-based catalyst had the property of resistance to deactivation.