Enhanced catalytic hydrogenolysis of lignin dimers over boron-doped NiCo alloy catalysts

The efficient hydrogenolysis of C-O ether bonds in lignin is critical for the production of bio-oils and high-value chemicals. In this paper, a series of boron-doped nickel-cobalt bimetallic catalysts with different metal ratios and calcination temperatures were synthesized by solvothermal and carbothermal reduction methods, to investigate the catalytic hydrogenolysis performance on lignin model compounds. Under the optimal reaction conditions (180 ℃, 2 MPaN 2 , and 2   h), it was observed that the conversion rate of benzyl phenyl ether (BPE) attained 100%, while the yields of toluene and cyclohexanol as the predominant products reached 49.5% and 47.6%, respectively. Moreover, the catalyst demonstrated notable stability and maintained substantial catalytic activity when the experiment was repeated for five times. It also exhibited a high degree of applicability to other lignin dimer model compounds and real lignin. The lignin and MOF-derived catalysts outlined in this study propose a novel approach for the effective utilization of biomass resources. The findings of this study can provide a valuable contribution to the improvement of lignin and its derivatives.