Photodeposition-Induced Highly Dispersed Pd/NbOPO4 Catalysts for Efficient Hydrodeoxygenation of Furfural-Ketone Condensates to Jet Fuel Range Alkanes

Hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived condensation products is an important route for producing sustainable aviation fuel, but the development of highly efficient low-loading Pd catalysts remains challenging. In this study, low-loading Pd/NbOPO4 catalysts were prepared by photodeposition and systematically compared with catalysts prepared by the conventional impregnation method. The photodeposited catalyst exhibited much higher Pd dispersion (25.50%) than the impregnated counterpart (5.44%), while better preserving the acidity and porous structure of the NbOPO4 support. Under the optimized conditions of 280 °C, 4 MPa H2, and 8 h, the 0.6 wt% photodeposited catalyst afforded an alkane yield of 75.41 wt% with a productivity of 194.37 mmol·gm-1·h-1. The enhanced activity is mainly attributed to the cooperative effect of highly dispersed Pd sites and preserved support acidity, whereas the impregnated catalyst showed better recycling stability. These results demonstrate that photodeposition is a promising strategy for constructing highly active Pd/NbOPO4 catalysts for the upgrading of biomass-derived oxygenates to jet fuel range alkanes.