Effect of Aluminium Loading on SiO2/Al2O3-NiMo Catalysts Synthesized via KHP-template for Crude Palm Oil Hydrocracking

Hasanudin Hasanudin (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Sriwijaya, Indralaya, Sumatra Selatan 30662)
Mhika Nakashima (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Sriwijaya, Indralaya, Sumatra Selatan 30662)
Wan Ryan Asri (Chemistry Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261)
Novia Novia (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Sriwijaya, Indralaya, Sumatra Selatan 30662)
Fitri Hadiah (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Sriwijaya, Indralaya, Sumatra Selatan 30662)
Roni Maryana (Research Center for Chemistry, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Building 452 Kawasan PUSPIPTEK, Serpong, Tangerang Selatan, Banten)
Muhammad Al Muttaqii (Research Center for Chemistry, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Building 452 Kawasan PUSPIPTEK, Serpong, Tangerang Selatan, Banten)
Nino Rinaldi (Research Center for Chemistry, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Building 452 Kawasan PUSPIPTEK, Serpong, Tangerang Selatan, Banten)

Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis
2025: BCREC Volume 20 Issue 4 Year 2025 (December 2025)

The present study evaluates the catalytic activity of SiO2/Al2O3‒x and SiO2/Al2O3‒x‒NiMo (where x = 5, 10, 25 g of aluminium weight) synthesized using a potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP) template-assisted route for the hydrocracking of crude palm oil (CPO) into biofuels. Increasing Al weight modified acidity, porosity, and NiMo dispersion, leading to distinct catalytic behavior. The optimal SiO2/Al2O3‒x‒NiMo catalyst (10 g Al) achieved ~94% conversion, dominated by jet fuel-range hydrocarbons (C10-C14) through synergistic hydrodeoxygenation and acid-catalyzed cracking-isomerization pathway. The enhanced performance originates from the balance between acidity and metal dispersion, highlighting that both template selection and Al loading govern the design of efficient SiO2/Al2O3‒NiMo catalysts for biofuel production. Copyright © 2025 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).