(560j) Understanding and Improving the Recyclability of Supported Nickel and Cobalt Catalysts for the Deoxygenation of Bio-Derived Fatty Acids

Biomass is an abundant feedstock ready for immediate conversion to transportation fuels. Non-edible plants, algae oil, and tallow are examples of feedstocks that exhibit high oil contents, making them optimal fuel candidates. If realized at an industrial scale, second-generation biofuels have been estimated to offset CO₂ emissions as much as 70% when compared to fossil-derived diesel fuels. Unfortunately, the techno-economic outlook of biofuels is currently unfavorable due to a number of costs related to harvesting, extraction, and upgrading.

For over 30 years, the thermochemical catalytic conversion of oily plants and algae has been studied, mostly applying traditional hydrotreating sulfided catalysts and noble-metal platinum and palladium catalysts. More recently, earth-abundant transition metals have been identified as active candidates for the deoxygenation reaction. In our recent work we have shown that zeolite supported transition metals including cobalt and nickel have high activity for the decarboxylation of fatty acids, but still suffer from considerable losses on recycling.

Herein, we report strong catalytic activity under inert atmospheres in our freshly synthesized Ni and Co catalysts. Finally, we provide recommendations for the improvement of non-noble metal catalysts in the deoxygenation of bio-derived feedstocks.