Synthesis of spherical, rod, or chain Ni nanoparticles and their structure–activity relationship in glucose hydrogenation reaction.

Catalytic hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol on P - doped amorphous Ni surface. [Display omitted] • Ni nanospheres and nanorods were obtained by altering hydrogen pressure. • The E a of glucose hydrogenation reaction over Ni nanospheres is 32 kJ/mol. • 100 % selectivity to sorbitol over Ni nanospheres was achieved at 140 °C. • Crystallinity and P dopant affect catalyst performance. Structure-activity relationships of Ni particles with different morphologies, crystallinities and compositions were investigated for glucose hydrogenation. Nanorods and nanospheres were obtained respectively by altering hydrogen pressure during synthesis, and nanobead chains were synthesized for analogy analysis following a known procedure. Glucose hydrogenation over Ni nanosphere catalysts exhibits the lowest reaction barrier (E a = 32 kJ/mol) compared to nanorods and nanobead chains (98 kJ/mol), and a constant sorbitol selectivity of 100 % was obtained at a temperature of 140 °C. A comprehensive characterization with ATR-IR, Raman, XPS, ICP, P-XRD, HRTEM and SAED revealed that the combined factors of poly-crystallinity, amorphous structure and P- dopant make Ni nanospheres superior. This provides a valuable path in the process of designing better non-noble catalysts to definitely avoid the use of noble metals in the future in biomass valorization reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]