The Indonesian government has pledged to ensure that all gas stations in Indonesia switch from diesel fuel to a biofuel blend produced from palm oil by 2025, as part of its drive to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. Bio-oil is a promising non-food source of biofuel but further upgrading processes is necessary to reach a fuel grade quality. We have attempted to upgrade bio-oil via a hydrodeoxygenation process using our bentonite based catalyst, NiMo/PILC, and INS results show that the bio-oil compounds were selectivity adsorbed on the catalyst giving superior activity compared to the conventional NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst. In order to further optimise the catalytic process, it is essential to investigate the effect of promoter (Ni, Co) on the catalyst. To this end, we wish to use INS to study the details of the interaction between a CoMo/PILC catalyst and the compounds contained in bio-oil.