Efficiency of Ni nanoparticles supported on hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon for hydrogenolysis of kraft lignin in flow and batch systems

Ni nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC) prepared via salt-melt synthesis with a hierarchical porosity were successfully applied as the catalyst for the degradation of Kraft lignin. It is shown that Ni-NDC is more efficient when compared to Ni nanoparticles deposited on an N-free carbon support, prepared with similar porosity features (Ni-C) and to Ni nanoparticles deposited on a commercial carbon (Ni-Cref). The efficiency of these materials was compared for reactions performed both in batch and flow reactors, highlighting the effect of the reactor setup on the stability of the recovered catalysts.