Effect of Carbon Modification on Properties of NiMo/-Al₂O₃ and Its Catalytic Performance in the Hydrogenation of Methyl Acrylate

A series of NiMo/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts modified using carbon for the regulation of interaction between the active metals and gamma-Al2O3 support was prepared for the hydrogenation of methyl acrylate. The catalysts were studied by employing BET, XRD, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra, H-2-TPR, XPS, and TEM to explore the effect of carbon introduction on physical properties. The results demonstrated that the introduction of carbon could effectively change the interaction between the active species and carriers, especially inhibiting the formation of the NiAl2O4 phase, which was not conducive to the hydrogenation process. In addition, the calcination temperature also exhibited an important effect on the formation of the NiAl2O4 phase and the dispersion of active components. The influence of reaction conditions and catalytic stability were also studied. Among the catalysts, the highest yield of methyl propionate could be achieved as 71.9% with 100% selectivity on the optimal SA(0.6)Ni(10)Mo(10)/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst, and it remained stable after 12 h time-on-stream.