Selective Hydrogenolysis of Diphenyl Ether and Lignin to Monoaromatics Over a Highly Efficient and Stable Ni-Pt/HZSM-5 Catalyst

To address the low hydrogenolysis efficiency of 4-O-5 bonds in lignin catalytic conversion, Ni-Pt/HZSM-5 bimetallic catalyst with a Ni/Pt molar ratio of 47:1 was developed using diphenyl ether (DPE) as a model compound. The results revealed that electron transfer from Ni to Pt induced a positive charge on the Ni surface, significantly enhancing its adsorption and activation capacity toward electron-rich 4-O-5 bonds. At 100 °C and 5 bar H 2 , the conversion of DPE reached 90.3% with 93.1% selectivity (phenol and benzene) and Ni-Pt/HZSM-5 retained stable over five cycles of use. When Ni-Pt/HZSM-5 was applied to pine sulfate lignin depolymerization at 220 °C and 5 bar H 2 , with yields of 12.9 wt% for phenol and 4-propylphenol and 16.3 wt% for methoxy phenolic compounds. Overall, this study would promote the application and development of high-efficiency bimetallic catalysts for the production of valuable chemicals from biomass. Graphical