Study on catalytic hydrogenation properties and thermal stability of amorphous NiB alloy supported on carbon nanotubes

The supported amorphous NiB/CNTs catalyst was prepared by impregnation, following the chemical reduction with KBH4 solution. The gas-phase benzene hydrogenation was used as a probe reaction to evaluate the catalytic activity. The amorphous NiB/CNTs catalyst exhibited higher activity than the amorphous NiB/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. The difference in activity was due to the better dispersion of active nickel and the electronic interaction between Ni and CNTs on the NiB/CNTs catalyst. The thermal stability of amorphous NiB/CNTs was better than that of NiB/γ-Al2O3. Because the unique pore-channel structure of CNTs can protect the active component Ni against agglomeration. Such results were discussed based on various characterizations, including XRD, ICP, XPS, TEM, DSC and CO chemical adsorption.