Zn-regulated carbon-coated Ni-based carbides for promoting hydrogenation of ethyl levulinate

Abstract

A series of NiZn catalysts (Ni_xZn_y@C) were prepared by changing the Zn content to control the phase composition. The ethyl levulinate (EL) conversion improved 2.4-fold, from 38.5% for Ni@C to a remarkable 93.9% for Ni₃Zn₁@C. The excellent performance is attributed to the regulation of the Zn content, which forms a single Ni₃ZnC_0.7 phase. The experimental results and density functional theory (DFT) indicate that the Ni₃ZnC_0.7 phase significantly improves H₂ and EL adsorption. In addition, the carbon-coated structure of the catalyst helps to improve the cycle stability.