Regeneration at room temperature for amorphous NiB/SiO2 catalyst deactivated in cyclopentadiene hydrogenation Original Research Article

The deactivated amorphous NiB/SiO2 catalyst in the selective hydrogenation of cyclopentadiene (CPD) to cyclopentene (CPE) was regenerated by a new method, base-wash method at room temperature. The base was alkaline-ethanol solution. After regeneration, the activity and selectivity were completely recovered. The results of XRD and DSC measurements showed that the amorphous structure of the regenerated amorphous catalyst is almost the same as that of the original counterpart. STEM-EDAX analysis revealed that the surface of the deactivated catalyst was covered by carbon. After regeneration, the carbon was removed. BET, H2 chemisorption and XPS tests indicated that the surface areas and chemical state were held on the renewal catalyst. Such regeneration operation can be repeated several times without significant changes in the structural and chemical properties.