Hydrogenation of fatty acids to fatty alcohols over Ni3Fe nanoparticles anchored on TiO2 crystal catalyst: Metal support interaction and mechanism investigation

Catalytic transformation of fatty acids into fatty alcohols is the essential step to produce renewable energy and high-valuable chemicals from waste fatty acids. In this research, a series of Ni 3 Fe catalysts were synthesized to improve this transformation, specifically that the Ni 3 Fe anchored on TiO 2 surface has performed excellent activity with a high alcohol yield reaching 91.2%. The structure–reactivity relationship between the Ni 3 Fe nanoparticles on different crystal types of TiO 2 (anatase: A-TiO 2 , rutile: R-TiO 2 ) was investigated. It was found that the as-prepared Ni 3 Fe/R-TiO 2 catalyst showed better catalytic performance than that of Ni 3 Fe/A-TiO 2 . Both experimental and density functional theory (DFT) computational results indicated that the interactions between Ni 3 Fe nanoparticles and R-TiO 2 support have highly promoted the formation of oxygen vacancy (O v ), which plays an essential role in C O and H H cleavage, thus promoting the hydrogenation towards fatty alcohols. Furthermore, the catalyst reusability tests showed that Ni 3 Fe/TiO 2 catalyst exhibited good stability over four times recycled and excellent suitability for industrial crude fatty acid conversion.