A series of Ni-Co-B amorphous alloy catalysts have been prepared by chemical reduction and their Co contents could be adjusted via changing Ni^2＋/Co^2＋ in reaction mixture. According to various characterizations, such as ICP, BET, XRD, TEM, SAED, DSC, XPS and H₂-TPD, the effect of cobalt content on the structural and electronic characteristics of Ni-Co-B catalyst was studied briefly. Meanwhile, their catalytic activities were evaluated by using liquid phase hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to 3-phenylpropyl aldehyde at atmospheric pressure as a probe. Results showed that the active center in the ternary alloy was Ni, whose catalytic activity could be greatly enhanced by introducing Co. Taking into account that the total amount of metal was fixed at 1.0 g in each run of the activity test, increasing Co content in Ni-Co-B alloy has positive effect and negative effect on its catalytic activity. On one hand, the catalytic activity will reduce due to the decreasing of the number of Ni active center. On the other hand, the synergetic effect of cobalt on Ni active center favors increasing the structural disorder of Ni-Co-B sample, the interaction between metal and metalloid, the surface Ni content and the electron interaction, which, in turn, enhances the catalytic activity. Suitable molar ratio of Co to (Ni＋Co) was found as 0.2～0.5.

Key words: cinnamaldehyde, 3-phenylpropyl aldehyde, nickel, cobalt, amorphous alloy, hydrogenation