Nanoreactors based on hydrophobized tubular aluminosilicates decorated with ruthenium: Highly active and stable catalysts for aromatics hydrogenation

Abstract

Industrial hydrogenation catalysts must be not only selective and active but also resistant to feedstock impurities, including water. We report the strategy of preparing catalytic core-shell nanoreactors based on hydrophobized aluminosilicate nanotubes loaded with ruthenium. The modification of halloysite with alkyltriethoxysilanes enhances hydrophobicity of the clay nanotubes (water contact angle up to 122°) and enables their selective loading with 4-nm ruthenium particles. Such a core-shell tubular nanoreactors provide shielding of active sites from deactivation by admixed water and prevent metal leaching. Produced mesoscale catalysts were active in the hydrogenation of aromatics both in organic and aqueous media at 80 °C and a hydrogen pressure of 3 MPa. Benzene hydrogenation in the biphasic system with water resulted in a complete conversion with 100 % selectivity to cyclohexane over halloysite modified by C18-triethoxysilane supported ruthenium catalyst with turnover frequency (TOF) of 4371 h−1. This catalytic system remained stable after ten cycles of benzene hydrogenation, providing 98 % conversion. The demonstrated synthetic strategy is promising for the design of industrial catalysts for the hydroprocessing water-containing organic feedstock and may be upscaled due to the abundant availability of halloysite clay nanotubes.