ZSM-5-supported multiply-twinned nickel particles: Formation, surface properties, and high catalytic performance in hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.jcat.2015.02.014

Nickel multiply-twinned particles (Ni MTPs) imbedded onto ZSM-5 were prepared, and their formation and chemical and electronic properties were characterized by HRTEM, XPS, CO-FTIR, and H₂-TPD. HRTEM showed the formation of Ni MTPs with triangular, square, hexagonal, and spherical shapes. The multiply-twinned particles were composed of f.c.c. nanocrystals dominated by (1 1 1) crystal face. Ni MTPs indicate an enhanced CO adsorption capability as compared with ordinary Ni particles. Ni MTPs were electron deficient and inherently strained, which is responsible for high catalytic activity in the hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose.

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.jcat.2015.02.014

Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Catalysis
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcat
ZSM-5-supported multiply-twinned nickel particles: Formation, surface
properties, and high catalytic performance in hydrolytic hydrogenation
of cellulose
Guanfeng Liang a,b,c, Limin He
Bin Zhang
a
a,b,c
, Haiyang Cheng a,b, Chao Zhang a,b, Xiaoru Li a,b,c, Shin-ichiro Fujita d,
a,b,c
d,
⇑
a,b,
⇑
, Masahiko Arai , Fengyu Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, PR China
Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Process, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, PR China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
b
c
d
Division of Chemical Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Nickel multiply-twinned particles (Ni MTPs) imbedded onto ZSM-5 were prepared, and their formation
and chemical and electronic properties were characterized by HRTEM, XPS, CO-FTIR, and H -TPD.
2
Received 4 September 2014
Revised 2 February 2015
Accepted 21 February 2015
HRTEM showed the formation of Ni MTPs with triangular, square, hexagonal, and spherical shapes.
The multiply-twinned particles were composed of f.c.c. nanocrystals dominated by (111) crystal face.
Ni MTPs indicate an enhanced CO adsorption capability as compared with ordinary Ni particles. Ni
MTPs were electron deficient and inherently strained, which is responsible for high catalytic activity in
the hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose.
Keywords:
Ni catalyst
Multiply-twinned particles
Cellulose
Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Hydrogenation
Hexitol
1
. Introduction
In 1966, Ino observed that small polycrystalline nuclei were
probably due to their limitation in separation, thermal stability,
and catalytic properties.
Hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose into hexitols is one of the
efficient methods for converting biomass to fuels and chemicals
[11–13]. High yield of hexitols was obtained on noble metal cata-
lysts, especially on Ru catalysts [14–17]. However, utilization of
noble metals is practically hindered because of high cost and lim-
ited resource. Recently, Ni-based catalysts were designed to
replace noble metal catalysts for achieving high yield of hexitols
[18–20]. However, conventional Ni catalysts supported on various
formed by deposition of Au on an NaCl surface in ultrahigh vacuum
and these anomalous Au particles were assumed to be multiply-
twinned particles (MTPs) [1,2]. Since that, extensive efforts have
been devoted to synthesizing MTPs for the f.c.c. metals (especially,
Au, Ag, Cu, Pt, Pd, and Ru) and investigating the crystal growth
mechanisms and their potential application in catalysis, gas sen-
sors, and electronics [3–7]. The most notable example for the appli-
cation of MTPs in catalysis is the case of supported Au
nanoparticles. Au MTPs were reported to be one of the most stable
forms of Au nanoparticles with a diameter <5 nm [8–10]. Although
the strategies for synthesizing of MTPs with controlled size, com-
position, and shape have achieved great progresses in these years,
Ni MTPs have been rarely studied so far in heterogeneous catalysis,
2 3 2 2
supports, such as Al O , SiO , bentonite, TiO , kieselguhr, ZnO, acti-
vated carbon, and carbon nanotubes, were less selective to the pro-
duction of hexitols [21], mainly due to the degradation of glucose
prior to hydrogenation and further hydrogenolysis of hexitols.
The degradation of glucose is costly because it will lead to a
decrease in hexitols yield and to serious coking and blocking of
metal surface. The hydrogenolysis of hexitols on metal sites
would increase hydrogen consumption, resulting in a complex
distribution of products in liquid phase and a large amount of
by-products in gas phase. For example, hydrogenolysis and aque-
ous phase reforming reactions occur seriously, which results in a
significant loss of hexitols over Ni-based catalysts, such as Ni/
⇑
Corresponding authors at: Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Process,
Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Changchun 130022, PR China (F. Zhao).
E-mail addresses: marai@eng.hokudai.ac.jp (M. Arai), zhaofy@ciac.ac.cn (F.
Zhao).
2 3 2
Al O , Ni/SiO , and Ni/bentonite [21].
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2015.02.014
0
021-9517/Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

8
0
G. Liang et al. / Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
The authors previously showed that hydrogenation/dehydro-
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were
performed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, VG
Microtech 3000 Multilab). Binding energy (BE) values were refer-
enced to the binding energy of the C 1s core level (284.8 eV).
Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images were taken
with a JEOL JEM-2010 instrument with an accelerating voltage of
200 kV. Prior to TEM characterization, the samples were dispersed
into ethanol solution with ultrasonic treatment for 15 min and
then dropped onto a carbon film on copper grid.
genation activity of Ni catalysts had a significant effect on hexitols
yield. A Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst gave excellent hydrogenation activity
but lower dehydrogenation activity; thus it produced hexitols in
high yield [21]. However, there is still little knowledge about the
relation between the excellent hydrogenation activity and the
structural/chemical/electronic properties of Ni/ZSM-5. The present
work has been undertaken to investigate the formation of Ni MTPs
on ZSM-5 and the possible reasons for the high activity of Ni MTPs
observed in the hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose.
In situ FTIR spectroscopy measurements were taken on a Bruker
V 70 spectrometer to examine the surface of Ni MTPs using CO as a
probe adsorbent. The catalyst sample was reduced in an IR cell
2
. Experimental
2 2
with H at 360 °C for 1 h, then purged with N at 360 °C for
3
0 min, and cooled to room temperature, followed by the sample
2.1. Catalyst preparation
was exposed to pure CO for 15 min and the spectra were recorded.
Typically, 100 scans were recorded at a resolution of 4 cm using
À1
A Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 catalyst was prepared by a modified impreg-
an MCT detector.
nation method. In detail, 1.66 g ZSM-5 powder was mixed with an
aqueous Ni(NO solution (15 mL) at room temperature. The mix-
ture was ultrasonically treated for 0.5 h to have a well-dispersed
suspension. Then, the excess water was evaporated slowly at
3 2
)
2
.3. Activity measurement
Microcrystalline cellulose (relative crystallinity of about 74.6%)
7
0 °C with stirring. Viridescent powder was collected and vac-
was purchased from Alfa Aesar, which was dried at 70 °C for 24 h
before use. The catalyst sample (100 mg) was firstly reduced in a
quartz tube at appropriate temperature (360 °C for Ni MTPs/ZSM-
uum-dried at 60 °C for 12 h. The powder was further calcined
under Ar atmosphere at increasing temperatures with a heating
À1
rate of 5 °C min to 450 °C and for 2 h at this temperature. The
5
and 300 °C for Ni/ZSM-5-DP, respectively) for 2 h. The catalyst
sample was transferred to reactor (30-mL Teflon inlet) containing
0 mL water, and then, 0.3 g microcrystalline cellulose was loaded
into the reactor. The reactor was introduced with 4 MPa H (RT) to
catalyst sample was reduced under H
2
atmosphere at increasing
À1
temperatures with a heating rate of 5 °C min to a certain tem-
perature at which it was further reduced for 2 h before use for
hydrogenation reaction and characterization. For comparison,
another Ni catalyst on ZSM-5 was also prepared by traditional
incipient wetness impregnation method and designated as Ni/
1
2
start the reaction. After reaction, the reactor was cooled to room
temperature by ice water. The product mixture was centrifuged
and dried at 70 °C for overnight. The cellulose conversion was
calculated by the weight difference in the solid before and after
reaction. The products in aqueous phase were firstly acetylated
and then identified by GC/MS (Agilent 5975/6890 N) with a HP-5
3 2
ZSM-5-IM. Typically, 1 mL Ni(NO ) solution was added to ZSM-5
support, and the sample was dried at room temperature. This
process was repeated twice in order to deposit adequate Ni. The
process for calcination and reduction is identical to that for Ni
MTPs/ZSM-5.
column (30 m  0.25 m  0.25 mm i.d). The liquid products were
l
analyzed by a HPLC system (Shimadzu LC-20AB) equipped with RI
Ni/ZSM-5-DP was prepared by deposition–precipitation
detector (Shimadzu RID-10A) and an Aminex HPX-87H column
method. In detail, the ZSM-5 powder was put into a Ni(NO
tion and dispersed by ultrasonic treatment for 0.5 h. A Na
3
)
2
solu-
CO
(
Bio-Rad, 300 Â 7.8 mm), using 5 mM H
2 4
SO as eluent with a flow
2
3
À1
rate of 0.7 ml min at 60 °C. The targeted polyols (hexitols, glyc-
erol, propylene glycol, and ethylene glycol) were determined
quantitatively by using HPLC based on calibration curves of stand
compounds.
solution was added dropwise into the mixture at 40 °C with stir-
ring. After that, the mixture was aged at 40 °C for 2 h, filtrated,
dried at 60 °C for overnight, and finally calcined under Ar at
4
50 °C for 2 h. The catalyst so prepared is designated as Ni/ZSM-
5
-DP.
3
. Results and discussion
2.2. Catalyst characterization
3.1. Structural properties
X-ray powder diffraction data were recorded with a Bruker D8
Fig. 1 shows TEM micrographs of supported Ni MTP catalysts
prepared. The calcined sample before reduction (Fig. 1a and b) con-
tains irregularly shaped NiO particles, which are foamlike with a
coating layer (Fig. 1b).The size of these foam-like NiO particles is
50–100 nm, which is largely different from an average size of
23 nm estimated by XRD (Fig. 2). It is hence assumed that the
foam-like porous NiO particles are polymorphs, consisting of two
or three single nanocrystals.
During reduction, NiO particles collapsed with releasing lattice
oxygen and then formed smaller Ni particles with triangular,
square, hexagonal, and spherical shapes (Fig. 1c), which were quite
different in morphology from the ordinary Ni nanoparticles on Ni/
ZSM-5-DP (Fig. 1g). Such a unique structure has been confirmed to
be multiply-twinned nickel particles in the previous study [22].
Fig. 1d shows the HRTEM micrograph of a typical multiply-
twinned decahedral nickel particle, which is composed of five
f.c.c. tetrahedral Ni nanocrystals dominated by (111) crystal face.
The nanocrystals were joined by twin boundaries with a gap of
Advance X-ray diffractometer using Cu K
a
source (k = 0.154 nm)
À1
in a 2h range from 10° to 80° with a scan speed of 10° min
-temperature-programmed desorption (H
temperature-programmed desorption (NH -TPD) were conducted
.
H
2
2 3
-TPD) and NH -
3
on a Tianjin XQ TP-5080 chemisorption instrument. The effluent
gas was analyzed by a thermal conductivity detector (TCD). As
for a typical TPD test, 100 mg of a fresh catalyst sample was loaded
into a quartz tube, heated at 150 °C for 30 min in nitrogen, and
then cooled to room temperature. The sample was reduced in a
1
5
1
2 2
0% H /N flow at desired temperature (360 °C for Ni MTPs/ZSM-
and 300 °C for Ni/ZSM-5-DP) with
0 °C min . After reduction, the sample was cooled to room tem-
a heating rate of
À1
perature and then exposed to a probe gas stream (H
2
or NH
3
at a
À1
flow rate of 30 mL min ) for 30 min. The sample was flushed with
He for 2 h to reach a stable background. Then, temperature-pro-
grammed desorption was carried out in a He stream at a flow rate
À1
À1
of 30 mL min and at a temperature ramp rate of 10 °C min
.

G. Liang et al. / Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
81
Fig. 2. XRD patterns of (a) calcined Ni/ZSM-5-DP and (b) calcined Ni MTPs/ZSM-5
before reduction.
adsorbed on the outer surface of ZSM-5. The loading of Ni MTPs
2
À1
increased the surface area from 230.2 to 269.1 m g (Table 1).
This may be due to the formation of a new type of micropores at
0
.92 nm (shown in Fig. 3).
3.2. Chemical and electronic properties
2
The number of exposed Ni atoms was determined by H -TPD
(
(
Fig. 4). Ni/ZSM-5-DP has a higher nickel metal surface area
192.6 m g ) than Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 (177.1 m g ), suggesting
2
À1
2
À1
that more Ni atoms were exposed on the surface of Ni/ZSM-5-DP.
The strength of the diffraction peaks for Ni species in Ni/ZSM-5-
DP was weaker, indicating that it has a smaller particle size with
higher dispersion compared with the Ni MTPs/ZSM-5.
Fig. 5 shows the NH
ZSM-5 catalysts. The NH
was assigned to weak acid sites, while that above 400 °C were
strong acid sites. The amount of NH desorbed above 400 °C from
3
-TPD profiles of Ni-loaded and Ni-unloaded
3
desorption at temperatures below 400 °C
3
either Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 or Ni/ZSM-5-DP was much smaller than that
from the ZSM-5 support, suggesting that the strong acid sites
decreased on the loading of Ni. A desorption peak appeared in
the range of 400–550 °C for Ni MTPs/ZSM-5, which should be
ascribed to new acidic sites of medium strength.
XPS analysis was performed in order to observe the evolution of
Ni species during the preparation process. Fig. 6 shows the XPS
spectra of Ni 2p3/2 for the Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 samples at different
stages of preparation. The values of the binding energy (BE) of Si
Fig. 1. TEM images of ZSM-5-supported Ni catalysts: (a and b) Ni MTPs/ZSM-5
before reduction; (c and d) reduced Ni MTPs/ZSM-5; (e and f) Ni/ZSM-5-DP before
reduction; and (g and h) reduced Ni/ZSM-5-DP.
2
p, Al 2p, and Ni 2p core electrons are listed in Table 2. The dried
sample (before calcination) presented two Ni 2p peaks at 856.4 and
857.3 eV (after deconvolution), which were assigned to
7
.35°, sharing axes of fivefold symmetry [23]. According to the
d-band center theory, multiply-twinned structure has crystal
defects or intrinsic elastic tensile strain, which could modify the
d-band structure and upshift the d-state closer to the Fermi level
Ni(H
Ni(H
2
O)
O)
x
(NO
(NO
3
)
)
2
and Ni(OH)
was partly hydrolyzed to Ni(OH)
2
,
respectively, indicating that
at the drying
2
x
3
2
2
stage. For the calcined one, Ni 2p3/2 showed two peaks at 854.4
and 856.5 eV. The former peak was associated with their regularly
shaped NiO particles, and the latter was a characteristic of NiO. As
for the reduced sample, a new peak appeared at 853.3 eV, indicat-
ing the formation of metallic nickel particles (Ni MTPs confirmed
by HRTEM). In addition, the BE of the Ni 2p3/2 for Ni at 853.3 eV
was higher than the standard value of Ni , indicating that Ni
MTPs were electron deficient. This may be because that the reduc-
tion was made ex situ and so some oxidized nickel species like NiO
might be formed through oxidation of Ni0 between the reduction
and the XPS measurement. When the sample was cleaned by argon
[
24,25], thus giving unusual surface sites. A few bulk particles with
the size of 50–100 nm were also found in Fig. 1c, which might be
due to incomplete reduction in some NiO particles.
The textural properties of ZSM-5, reduced Ni MTPs/ZSM-5, and
reduced Ni/ZSM-5-DP catalysts are summarized in Table 1. Ni
MTPs/ZSM-5 had a larger specific area and pore volume compared
to those of Ni/ZSM-5-DP and ZSM-5 samples. The pore size
distributions of these three samples are also given in Fig. 3. The
Ni-unloaded ZSM-5 showed a dominant peak at 0.61 nm and
another peak at 0.83 nm, indicating a microporous structure. For
Ni/ZSM-5-DP, the presence of Ni particles has no effect on the pore
size distribution, suggesting that Ni particles were exclusively
0
0
0
ion sputtering for 2 min, the peak for the Ni 2p3/2 became
dominant with no shift and the satellite line for Ni still remained,
2
+

8
2
G. Liang et al. / Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
Table 1
a
Textural properties of Ni catalysts.
Micro (m2
g
À1
)
Pore volume (cm3
g
À1
)
Pore size (nm)
Particle size (nm)
SANi (m2
b
g
À1
-TPD data)
Catalyst
S
2
XRD
TEM
Ni MTPs/ZSM-5
Ni/ZSM-5-DP
ZSM-5
269.1
229.2
230.3
0.149
0.118
0.117
0.61
0.62
0.61
18
16
19
13
177.1
192.6
a
Specific area in the range of the micropore region (SMicro) is calculated by using BET method, pore size distribution and pore volume are calculated from the Ar adsorption
isotherm using H-K method.
b
bNi metal-specific surface area (SANi) is calculated from the monolayer adsorption of hydrogen based on H2-TPD curves.
2
Fig. 4. H -TPD patterns of Ni/ZSM-5-DP and Ni MTPs/ZSM-5.
Fig. 3. Micropore size distribution of ZSM-5-supported Ni catalysts. The pore size
distribution is calculated from the Ar adsorption isotherm using H-K method.
indicating the existence of non-reduced nickel ions. Pawelec et al.
previously reported that the non-reduced nickel ions interacted
with the lattice oxygen existed on zeolite according to XPS analy-
sis, as a result of an incomplete reduction of NiO during hydrogen
treatment [26].
The surface of supported Ni particles was examined by FTIR
using CO as a probe molecule. Fig. 7 shows time-dependent FTIR
spectra for CO adsorbed on Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 and Ni/ZSM-5-DP cata-
lysts reduced at room temperature and 200 °C. Two weak absorp-
tion bands were observed at 2171 and 2107 cm for Ni/ZSM-5-DP
measured at room temperature (Fig. 7a), and these bands disap-
3
Fig. 5. NH -TPD profiles of ZSM-5, Ni MTPs/ZSM-5, and Ni/ZSM-5-DP.
À1
CO species adsorbed on the metallic Ni atom with low valence
d+
(Ni ). Purging by N
2
causes a minor decrease in the intensity of
À1
peared on N
gaseous CO. CO adsorption band was not observed after N
for 8 min, suggesting that no CO adsorption occurred on Ni/ZSM-
2
purging. These two bands were assigned to residual
the bands at 2035–2213 cm , corresponding to strong adsorption
forms. It is difficult to figure out the difference in Ni species in elec-
tronic states since no well-resolved band was observed.
2
purging
5
-DP. By contrast, CO adsorption behavior on Ni MTPs/ZSM-5
Fig. 7c shows the FTIR results measured at 200 °C for the
reduced Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 sample. After N purging at 200 °C with
2
À1
was different and CO adsorption band was located at 1950 cm
(
Fig. 7b). This band was attributed to bridge-type carbonyls
prolonged time, i.e., at low CO coverage, some well-resolved bands
0
À1
connected with two or more Ni atoms [27–29]. Even after N
2
appeared at 2283–2059 cm
.
The intensity of these bonds
purging for 26 min at room temperature, the adsorption band little
weakened, suggesting a strong adsorption of carbonyl complexes
on the Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 catalyst.
decreased with decreasing CO coverage, which were assigned to
2
+
terminal carbonyls on various Ni
species. The band at
À1
2+
2181 cm was assigned to CO interacting to Ni with
r band
Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 presented strong absorption spectra at the fre-
quency region of 2035–2203 cm , which was attributed to linear
[30,31]. Such a stable CO adsorption band could be explained by
the high electrophilicity of Ni cations in ZSM-5 matrix according
À1
2+

G. Liang et al. / Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
83
À1
frequency (i.e., 1900–1970 cm ) increased with N
2
purging at
2
00 °C, while the bands of terminal carbonyls at the higher
À1
frequency (2181, 2121, and 2111 cm ) decreased in intensity,
indicating the terminal carbonyls were converted to the bridge-
type ones at low CO coverage. Here, some well-resolved bands of
bridge-type species were observed, suggesting the presence of
several kinds of adsorbed CO species with different adsorption
energies. The presence of different kinds of adsorbed CO species
indicated the existence of various types of surface atoms with
different electronic states on Ni MTPs, naming the strain on Ni
MTPs was heterogeneous, and the electronic state of the surface
atom was changed with strain accordingly.
3.3. Formation mechanism of Ni MTPs
Even though all f.c.c. metals could form MTPs in the early
synthesis strategies theoretically and experimentally, Ni MTPs
are seldom found in the nickel catalysts. The forming mechanism
of Ni MTPs has not been reported and still unclear up to now.
Herein, we made a discussion for the formation of Ni MTPs based
on the characterization and experimental data.
Compared to the conventional impregnation, both ultrasoni-
cally treatment and controlled evaporation processes were applied
in the preparation of Ni MTPs/ZSM-5, and these two additional
procedures may be attributed to the formation of Ni MTPs. As
shown in Fig. 8, the pH value of the impregnation solution changed
largely during the volatilization process (evaporating at 70 °C with
À1
a rate of 6 mL h ). At first, the pH value decreased from 2.4 to 1.9
linearly in the first 80 min and then increased up to 2.5 within the
next 40 min. The changes of the pH value in the evaporation
process may be caused by the following transformations: As shown
in Scheme 1, firstly, the nickel ions reacted with the surface hydro-
xyl groups of ZSM-5 to release protonic hydrogen into the solution
or exchanged with Al in the framework, thus causing a gradual
decrease in pH value; secondly, with further evaporating of excess
water at the last 40 min, the nickel nitrate solution was saturated
and it deposited with the leached Al subsequently onto the sur-
face of ZSM5, which was demonstrated with the results of XPS
analysis. Table 1 summarizes the atomic ratio of Ni/Al, Si/Al, and
Ni/(Ni + Si + Al) on the surface of Ni MTP/ZSM-5 at different
forming stages. The surface Si/Al atomic ratio in the Ni-containing
sample after impregnation was 3.4, which is much lower than that
Fig. 6. XPS spectra of Ni species of Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 samples at different stages of
preparation: (a) dried; (b) calcined; (c) reduced, and (d) reduced and then treated
by Ar+ sputtering for 2 min.
À1
to the literature [28]. The band at 2111 cm with a shoulder at
À1
d+
2
p
121 cm could be due to terminal carbonyls on Ni species with
-type back bonding. Considering that the surface atoms of Ni
3
+
MTPs on ZSM-5 were coordinatively unsaturated, we demon-
À1
strated that the bands at 2121 and 2111 cm should be attributed
to terminal carbonyls on Ni MTPs. Moreover, these peaks asso-
ciated with Ni MTPs were still evident after N
2
purging for
2
0 min at 200 °C, indicating a strong adsorption of CO on Ni
MTPs. After N
2
purging at 200 °C, some new peaks with similar
2 2 3
(SiO /Al O 25.5) in the bulk. A similar trend was also found in
À1
relative intensities appeared at 2017, 2008, and 1993 cm , which
could be assigned to Ni species such as physisorbed Ni(CO)
Pawelec’s work [26], and they cautiously deduced that it might
be caused by Al leaching from the framework. Moreover, the metal
composites decomposed to form an alumina overlayer on the
foam-like NiO particles at high temperature during calcination,
as observed in the TEM images (Fig. 1b). The decomposition behav-
ior of Ni and Al complexes was different that the Al precursor was
preferentially decomposed during raising temperature to form an
alumina overlayer and then the Ni precursor decomposed at
4
and
Ni(CO) [32]. Interestingly, several quite sharp bands at the lower
3
À1
frequency (i.e., 1900–1970 cm ) appeared in the typical region
of bridge-type species after heating at 200 °C.
The FTIR results after N purging at 200 °C allow us to consider
2
the features of the surface of Ni MTPs on ZSM-5. According to the
spectra, all these bands of bridge-type species at the lower
Table 2
The distribution of Al, Si, and Ni on the surface of Ni MTP/ZSM-5 at different stages of preparation based on XPS analysis.
Samples
Binding energy (eV)
Atomic ratio
Ni/Si
Si 2p
Al 2p
Ni 2p3/2
Si/Al
3.4
Ni/(Al + Si + Ni)
0.10
Dried
103.3
74.7
74.9
75.1
75.1
856.4 (Ni(H
2
O)
x
(NO
3 2
) )
0.14
857.3 (Ni(OH)
2
)
+
Calcined
103.2
103.4
103.4
854.4 (Ni d )
0.24
0.05
0.10
2.2
8.6
6.7
0.14
0.04
0.09
+
8
56.5 (Ni 2
853.3 (Ni 0
56.2 (Ni 2+)
853.1 (Ni 0
56.1 (Ni 2+)
)
Reduced
)
8
Reduced (Ar+ sputtering)
)
8

8
4
G. Liang et al. / Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
key factors for synthesis of metal MTPs by seeded solutions [33].
In present work, the alumina overlayer worked as surface-stabiliz-
ing agent for the formation of Ni MTPs, because in the initial reduc-
tion stage of the foam-like NiO polymorphs, the alumina layer
could inhibit rapid growth of Ni nanocrystals, and the steric hin-
drance favored the formation of Ni MTPs. In addition, the strong
interactions between Ni particles and alumina layer made Ni
MTPs anchored on the ZSM-5 matrix more strongly. By contrast,
the Ni MTPs were not formed in the Ni/ZSM-5-IM (conventional
impregnation method) and the Ni/ZSM-5-DP (deposition–precip-
itation method). The surface alumina overlayer could not be
formed when the evaporation process was not included, thus
because of the absence of the transformations in Scheme 1.
3.4. Catalytic performance
The Ni MTPs/ZSM-5, Ni/ZSM-5-IM, and Ni/ZSM-5-DP catalysts
were compared for the hydrolytic hydrogenation of microcrys-
talline cellulose, and the Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 and Ni/ZSM-5-DP for
the hydrogenolysis and dehydrogenation of sorbitol. The results
obtained are summarized in Table 3. When Ni-unloaded ZSM-5
was used, sorbitan and isosorbide were obtained in a total yield
of 65.3% at 80.5% conversion (Table 3, entry 8), indicating that
the intra-molecular dehydration reaction mainly occurred at pre-
sent conditions. It is interesting, in contrast, the yield of dehydra-
tion products such as sorbitan and isosorbide was quite low over
the Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 and Ni/ZSM-5-DP catalysts. According to the
3
NH -TPD results, the ZSM-5 had more strong acid sites compared
to Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 or Ni/ZSM-5-DP. We propose that the strong
acid sites are beneficial for the intra-molecular dehydration reac-
tion of sorbitol. Considering that the molecule size of sorbitol
(
0.547 Â 0.64 nm) is larger than the pore size of the channels in
ZSM-5 [34], we propose that sorbitol may be dehydrated exclu-
sively on the strong acid sites over the outer surface of ZSM-5.
As shown in Table 3, both Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 and Ni/ZSM-5-DP
catalysts showed poor activities for the hydrogenolysis and
dehydrogenation of sorbitol (Table 3, entry 2, 3, 5, 6), which are
required for suppressing the cost of hexitols in the hydrolytic
hydrogenation of cellulose. High hydrogenation activity and low
dehydrogenation activity are essential for high production of hexi-
tols on Ni catalysts. The Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 is a promising catalyst, but
2
the Ni/ZSM-5-DP is not. According to the H -TPD results in Table 1,
Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 has less Ni0 active sites than Ni/ZSM-5-DP, but it
presented a much higher hydrogenation activity, indicating that
the amount of active sites was not a dominant factor for the hydro-
genation activity. The fundamental reason for the difference in
hydrogenation activity between these two catalysts might be the
intrinsic hydrogenation activity of two types of Ni nanoparticles.
A comparison of TOF value for hexitol formation between Ni
MTPs/ZSM-5 and Ni/ZSM-5-DP shows that the intrinsic hydrogena-
tion activity of Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 is much higher than that of Ni/ZSM-
À1
Fig. 7. Time-dependent FTIR spectra of CO adsorbed on supported Ni particles: (a)
reduced Ni/ZSM-5-DP at RT, (b) reduced Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 at RT, and (c) reduced Ni
MTPs/ZSM-5 at 200 °C.
5-DP (6.0 versus 1.6 h , Table 3, entry 2 and 5, respectively).
The hydrogenation of glucose over Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 in the pres-
ence/absence of 0.2 MPa CO was conducted, in order to investigate
the effect of coadsorption of CO on Ni MTPs. As shown in Fig. 9, in
the presence of CO, the conversion of glucose and the selectivity of
hexitols were 18.5% and 2.2%, while in the absence of CO, they
were 22.8% and 60.9%, respectively. The results thus indicated that
the presence of CO could inhibit the hydrogenation of glucose as
the active sites on Ni MTP/ZSM-5 were partly occupied by CO.
Ni MTPs were considered to provide some unusual active sites
for hydrogenation due to the unique structure, which was demon-
strated by using CO-FTIR. Those active sites for adsorption of CO
were similar to that of the glucose, since the glucose hydrogena-
tion on Ni MTPs was largely suppressed in the presence of CO
(Fig. 9). Several remarkably distinct adsorbed CO species were
x 2
relative higher temperature, releasing out gaseous NO or H O,
thus resulted in the formation of a porous NiO particles. It is
noticed that the surface Ni/(Ni + Si + Al) atomic ratio on the
reduced Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 increased to 0.09 from 0.04 after Ar+ sput-
tering, supporting that Ni MTPs were coated with alumina over-
layer, and more Ni atoms were exposed as alumina overlayer
was etched by Ar+ sputtering.
We proposed that alumina overlayer had a determinant influ-
ence on the formation and the ultimate microstructure of the
resulting Ni MTPs. It was reported that the surface-stabilizing
agent and the subtle control of nucleation and kinetics were the

G. Liang et al. / Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
85
Fig. 8. The change of pH value of impregnation solution as a function of time during the preparation of Ni MTPs on ZSM-5.
+
2
Zeolite-OH + Ni2+
Al+
( Zeolite-O) Ni + 2 H (1)
2
Ni
Ni2+
+ Al3+
(2)
+
O
O
O
O
Al+
+ Al3+ (3)
2 H+
+
OH HO
O
O
3 2
Scheme 1. The proposed surface reactions in aqueous Ni(NO ) solution during
impregnation.
observed over Ni MTPs (Fig. 7), indicating the existence of various
types of surface Ni atoms with different electronic states, naming
the strain on Ni MTPs was heterogeneous as the electronic state
of the surface atom changed with strain accordingly. It is in consis-
tent with the result of DFT calculation on the adsorption of CO on
strained Au(111) slabs [25]. Based on the d-band model for the
MTPs of 3 d transition metals, an increase in tensile strain of sur-
face atoms shifted the d-band center closer to the Fermi level,
resulting in enhanced interaction between surface atoms and
adsorbed molecules because fewer of the antibonding states of
Fig. 9. The effect of CO on the hydrogenation of glucose over Ni MTPs/ZSM-5.
Reaction conditions: 4.0 MPa H , 1 g glucose, 10 mL H O, 120 °C, 1 h.
2 2
Ni-adsorbate bond were occupied [35,36]. This is in agreement
with our conclusion that the remarkably enhanced CO adsorption
capability originates from the low-coordinated surface nickel
atoms with inherent strain. In the case of cellulose hydrogenation,
Table 3
a
Catalytic conversion of microcrystalline cellulose over Ni catalysts.
Entry
Catalyst
Substrate
Reaction conditions
Conversionb (%)
Product yieldc (%)
TOFe (hÀ1
)
Hexitols
Glycerol
EG
PDO
Ad
9.7
2.1
3.6
3.7
1.9
2.1
2.6
65.3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Ni/ZSM-5-IM
Ni MTPs/ZSM-5
Cellulose
Cellulose
Sorbitol
Sorbitol
Cellulose
Sorbitol
Sorbitol
Sorbitol
4.0 MPa H
4.0 MPa H
4.0 MPa H
2
2
2
, 2.5 h
, 2.5 h
, 4 h
92.0
94.1
17.5
16.4
93.4
22.6
15.7
80.5
23.7
63.6
–
–
18.9
–
7.6
1.2
2.3
0.7
5.2
4.5
0.6
–
7.7
0.6
1.5
1.9
2.2
3.5
1.9
–
29.0
1.4
0.3
3.9
1.8
4.7
2.8
–
–
6.0
0.7
–
1.6
0.6
–
0.1MPaN
2
, 4 h
Ni/ZSM-5-DP
ZSM-5
4.0 MPa H
4.0 MPa H
2
, 2.5 h
, 4 h
, 4 h
2
0.1 MPa N
0.1 MPa N
2
–
–
2
, 4 h
–
a
Reaction conditions: 240 °C, 10 mL H
2
O, substrate 0.3 g, catalyst 0.1 g, reactor (50 mL) with a diameter of 30 mm.
b
Cellulose conversion was calculated with the initial weight of solid (cellulose and catalyst) divided by that of the residual solid after reaction, and sorbitol conversion was
calculated by HPLC.
c
The yield of the product = (moles of carbon in the product)/(moles of carbon in the substrate).
The dehydration products include sorbitan and isosorbide.
TOF value in cellulose hydrogenation is calculated based on hexitol formation and TOF value in the hydrogenolysis and dehydrogenation of sorbitol is calculated based on
d
e
sorbitol consumption.

8
6
G. Liang et al. / Journal of Catalysis 325 (2015) 79–86
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[
[
The nickel nanoparticles on Ni MTPs/ZSM-5 were confirmed to
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well as lower hydrogenolysis and dehydrogenation activity and
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The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) (Grant
Nos. 21273222 and 20086036). The authors thanks the research
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