Carbon Nanotube-Supported RuFe Bimetallic Nanoparticles as Efficient and Robust Catalysts for Aqueous-Phase Selective Hydrogenolysis of Glycerol to Glycols

• DOI: 10.1021/cs200386q
• Publication Date: 2011-09-26T17:38:54Z
• Authors: Bodong Li; Juan Wang; Youzhu Yuan; Hiroko Ariga; Satoru Takakusagi; Kiyotaka Asakura
• Keywords: Glycerol; Bimetallic catalyst; Ru-Fe alloy; 02 engineering and technology; Hydrogenolysis; Glycol; 540; 0210 nano-technology; Carbon nanotube

Carbon nanotube-supported RuFe bimetallic catalysts (RuFe/CNT) were prepared through a coimpregnation method for the selective hydrogenolysis of 20 wt % glycerol aqueous solution to produce glycols (1,2-propanediol and ethylene glycol). The Ru/CNT catalyst with smaller Ru nanoparticles (NPs) was significantly active for C–C bond cleavage, giving a considerable amount of CH4 in the hydrogenolysis product. The RuFe/CNT catalyst with bimetallic NPs having an average size similar to Ru/CNT was more efficient for C–O bond cleavage, affording higher selectivity to glycols. Almost 100% glycerol conversion and over 75% selectivity to glycol could be obtained using the optimized RuFe/CNT catalyst under relatively mild conditions. The bimetallic RuFe/CNT catalyst was structurally robust and showed excellent reusability. Transmission electron microscopic images revealed that, when an appropriate amount of Fe entity was added, the RuFe bimetallic NPs were uniformly dispersed on the CNT surfaces and had an average siz...