Effect of the metal precursor on the catalytic performance of the Ru/KL system for the ethanol transformation reactions

Abstract

Four Ru/KL-zeolite catalysts containing 2wt% of Ru were prepared from Ru3(CO)12, RuNO(NO3)3, Ru(C5H7O2)3 and RuCl3 precursors. The evolution of electronic structure and local chemical environment of ruthenium in the samples named Ru(c)/KL, Ru(n)/KL, Ru(acac)/KL and Ru(Cl)/KL was studied by in-situ XANES during temperature-programmed reduction. Also by CO chemisorption and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the sizes of the Ru nanoparticles were determined. Activity and selectivity of the catalysts were evaluated in the transformation of ethanol, under kinetic conditions, in a fixed bed flow reactor, at 523K–573K. Characterization of the samples shows that metal dispersion values follow the trend Ru(c)/KL≥Ru(n)/KL > Ru(Cl)/KL≥Ru(acac)/KL. Activity of the catalysts is in the order Ru(acac)/KL≥Ru(c)/KL>Ru(n)/KL≥Ru(Cl)/KL. The TOF values, however, are in the same order of magnitude for all the samples, nonetheless the Ru(Cl)/KL catalyst has slightly lower TOF at all the reaction temperatures. Selectivity towards the dehydrogenation product, acetaldehyde, follows the trend Ru(c)/KL>Ru(n)/KL=Ru(acac)/KL>>Ru(Cl)/KL, this being 100% for Ru(c)/KL. Selectivity towards acetaldehyde is highly diminished for Ru(Cl)/KL in favor of the dehydration products, diethyl ether and ethylene, the higher the decrease the higher the temperature. The catalytic results are related to the properties of the surface metal species and their location in the zeolite framework, as well as to their surroundings, as evidenced from the results of the characterization measurements, which are in turn influenced by the different nature of the metal precursor.