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Benzene hydrogenation over highly active monodisperse Ru/γ-Al2O3 nanocatalyst synthesized by (w/o) reverse microemulsion

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Abstract

Ruthenium nanoparticles (10–40 nm) were synthesized by the reduction of aqueous ruthenium trichloride in aqueous sodium borohydride by the water-in-oil (w/o) reverse microemulsion method at atmospheric temperature. The synthesized Ru nanoparticles (Ru content 1–5 wt%) were dispersed on γ-alumina of high surface area by a high speed mechanical stirrer. The nanocatalysts (Ru/γ-Al2O3) were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, N2-physisorption, BET surface area, hydrogen chemisorption and thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTA). The activity of the nanocatalyst was tested in the gas–liquid phase hydrogenation reaction of benzene to cyclohexane at 40–100 °C and 20 bar hydrogen pressure. The activities of the catalysts were studied by varying different parameters such as Ru loading (wt% of Ru), reaction temperatures, catalyst recycling, thiophene (catalyst poison) concentration, stirring speed and metal nanoparticles size etc. The results showed that maximum activity (100 % conversion of benzene) was obtained at 80 °C and 20 bar pressure with 4 wt% (Ru content) catalyst. The activation energy and TOF were found to be 27.9 kJ mol −1 and 1416.8 h−1, respectively, which indicated higher activity of Ru/γ-Al2O3 catalyst than conventional catalyst for the hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexane.

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Acknowledgments

Authors wish to acknowledge the Board of Research in Nuclear Science (BRNS), Mumbai, India, for financial support through Project Ref. No. 2011/36/02-BRNS/0080.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, S. V. National Institute of Technology, Surat, 395007, Gujarat, India

    S. U. Nandanwar & M. Chakraborty

  2. Chemical Engineering Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), Mumbai, 400085, Maharashtra, India

    S. Mukhopadhyay & K. T. Shenoy

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  1. S. U. Nandanwar
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  2. M. Chakraborty
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  3. S. Mukhopadhyay
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  4. K. T. Shenoy
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Correspondence to M. Chakraborty.

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Nandanwar, S.U., Chakraborty, M., Mukhopadhyay, S. et al. Benzene hydrogenation over highly active monodisperse Ru/γ-Al2O3 nanocatalyst synthesized by (w/o) reverse microemulsion. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 108, 473–489 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-012-0526-1

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