Fatty alcohols are widely used as detergents, but the large-scale synthesis still involves serious environmental pollution due to the use of toxic Cr-containing catalysts. Herein, a series of eco-friendly NixFey catalysts were successfully developed by utilizing a facile in-situ carbonization and reduction method, which exhibited excellent selectivity in the hydrogenation of stearic acid. The best performance was achieved on the Ni1.8Fe1.5 catalyst with 98% selectivity at 100% stearic acid conversion towards stearic alcohol. Further investigation revealed that Ni3Fe intermetallic compound was the effective active component. Besides, this catalyst can be easily separated and reused for several times without significant loss of activity. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.