The interactions between the NiB amorphous alloy and TiO2 support in the NiB/TiO2 amorphous catalysts Original Research Article

Two supported amorphous NiB catalysts (NiB/TiO2) were prepared by two kinds of chemical reduction methods: the impregnation–wetness–reduction method and the chemical deposition method. For comparison, the unsupported NiB was also prepared by the chemical reduction method. Their catalytic activities were measured through liquid phase hydrogenation of sulfolene under moderate pressure. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, inductively coupled plasma (ICP), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Selected area electronic diffraction (SAED) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The TEM morphologies revealed that (1) the amorphous NiB alloy was well dispersed as ultrafine particles on the TiO2 support, and (2) there was a strong interaction between NiB alloy and the TiO2 support. The thermal stability of the amorphous NiB alloy was increased owing to the introduction of the support.