Morphology Effect of CeO2 on Ni/CeO2 Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde

Abstract A series of CeO2 with different morphologies (nanoparticles, nanorods and nanocubes) supported nickel catalysts were synthesized successfully using the hydrothermal route to investigate the morphology effects of CeO2 on these Ni/CeO2 catalysts for selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (CAL). Catalytic activities of three Ni/CeO2 catalysts were ranked in the order of Ni/CeO2-R > Ni/CeO2-P > Ni/CeO2-C, which was attributed to the the highest concentration of surface oxygen vacancies in Ni/CeO2-R. These may lead more active surface oxygen and better redox properties on Ni/CeO2-R catalyst. More importantly, Ni/CeO2-R also showed excellent catalytic recycling stability, reflecting the morphological effect of nanocatalysis.