Effect of Ruthenium Metal Precursors Supported on Bentonite in Hydrogenolysis Glycerol

Various ruthenium precursors (Ru= RuCl3, Ru2 = Ru(acac)(3), Ru3 = Ru-3(CO)(12)) supported on bentonite were prepared by conventional impregnation method. Their catalytic performances were evaluated in the hydrogenolysis of glycerol using autoclave Parr reactor under mild reaction conditions of 150 degrees C, hydrogen pressure 30 bar for 7 hours. Among the studied catalyst, 5% Ru/bentonite catalyst prepared from Ru and Ru3 precursor exhibited higher activity which are 79.6% and 72.5% respectively. In contrast, Ru2/bentonite prepared from Ru(acac)(3) precusor gave lowest activity (41.8%). In term of selectivity to 1,2-propanediol, Ru2 and Ru3 precusor gave higher selectivity (67.0% and 66.9%) compared to Ru precursor (50.6%). These results indicated that metal precursor plays an important role on activity and selectivity of the catalyst in hydrogenolysis reaction. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, XPS, BET, FESEM-EDX and TEM, and the reasons for the high performances of the catalyst were also discussed.