Effect of Alumina Particle Size on Ni/Al₂O₃ Catalysts for p-Nitrophenol Hydrogenation^* * Supported by the Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Program of China (No.2003CB615702), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.20636020) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No.BK2006722).

The catalytic hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol was investigated over Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst on alumina support with different particle size. It is found that support particle size has significant influences on physiochemical properties and catalytic activity of the resulting Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst, but little influence on the selectivity. At a comparable amount of Ni loading, the catalytic activity of Ni/Al₂O₃ prepared with alumina support of smaller particle size is lower. The reduction behavior of the catalyst is a key factor in determining the catalytic activity of Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The supported nickel catalyst 10.3Ni/Al₂O₃-3 improves the life span of the membrane by reducing fouling on the membrane surface compared to nano-sized nickel.