Fabrication of NiTi-MMO supported on in-situ generated TiO2 for dioctyl phthalate hydrogenation: A strategy for improving the utilization efficiency of Ni

•Catalytic hydrogenation of dioctyl phthalate to efficiently produce 1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylate dioctyl ester, which is an environmentally friendly plasticizer.•The utilization rate of nickel species in nickel-based catalysts using hydrotalcite as precursors has been significantly improved by in-situ generation of the TiO2 support.•Strong metal-support interactions between TiO2 support and metallic Ni particles maintained small particle size of metal Ni particles, which contributed to the excellent catalytic performance.