Nickel-alumina composite aerogels as liquid-phase hydrogenation catalysts

Mesoporous and well-dispersed nickel-alumina composite aerogels with high s urface area have been prepared by CO2 supercritical drying of alcogels obta ined by the fast sol-gel process. They were evaluated as catalysts in a bat ch reactor for the liquid-phase hydrogenation of benzophenone and soybean o il and showed excellent activity and accessibility of the metal particles. They were also characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffr action (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission elec tron microscopy (TEM) to explain their excellent catalytic performance in c omparison with other alumina-supported nickel catalysts. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.