γ-Valerolactone Production from Levulinic Acid Hydrogenation Using Ni Supported Nanoparticles: Influence of Tungsten Loading and pH of Synthesis

γ-Valerolactone (GVL) has been considered an alternative as biofuel in the production of carbon-based chemicals; however, the use of noble metals and corrosive solvents has been a problem. In this work, Ni supported nanocatalysts were prepared to produce γ-Valerolactone from levulinic acid using methanol as solvent at a temperature of 170 °C utilizing 4 MPa of H₂. Supports were modified at pH 3 using acetic acid (CH₃COOH) and pH 9 using ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH) with different tungsten (W) loadings (1%, 3%, and 5%) by the Sol-gel method. Ni was deposited by the suspension impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized by various techniques including XRD, N₂ physisorption, UV-Vis, SEM, TEM, XPS, H₂-TPR, and Pyridine FTIR. Based on the study of acidity and activity relation, Ni dispersion due to the Lewis acid sites contributed by W at pH 9, producing nanoparticles smaller than 10 nm of Ni, and could be responsible for the high esterification activity of levulinic acid (LA) to Methyl levulinate being more selective to catalytic hydrogenation. Products and by-products were analyzed by ¹H NMR. Optimum catalytic activity was obtained with 5% W at pH 9, with 80% yield after 24 h of reaction. The higher catalytic activity was attributed to the particle size and the amount of Lewis acid sites generated by modifying the pH of synthesis and the amount of W in the support due to the spillover effect.