Effect of acidity and ruthenium species on catalytic performance of ruthenium catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorinationElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Fig. S1-S7, Tables S1 and S2, see ESI. See DOI: 10.1039/c8cy01677a

• Main Authors: Wang, Xiaolong, Lan, Guojun, Liu, Huazhang, Zhu, Yihan, Li, Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 26.11.2018
• ISSN: 2044-4753; 2044-4761
• DOI: 10.1039/c8cy01677a

Carbon-supported ruthenium catalysts are promising mercury-free catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination, due to their high activity and relatively low price. However, ruthenium catalysts often suffer from serious deactivation. Herein, a stable RuCl 3 -A/AC catalyst was prepared by applying a simple ammonia treatment during the impregnation process. The fresh and used ruthenium catalysts were comprehensively characterized using N 2 sorption, NH 3 -temperature-programmed desorption (NH 3 -TPD), H 2 temperature-programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the RuCl 3 species is identified as the active species, and the surface acidity of the RuCl 3 /AC catalyst is generated mainly from supported RuCl 3 species, which can easily cause coke deposition. The enhancement of the stability of the RuCl 3 -A/AC catalyst is attributed to the formation of RuO x species and the decrease of the surface acidity. Carbon-supported ruthenium catalysts are promising mercury-free catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination, due to their high activity and relatively low price. The deactivation mechanism was identified and solved by a simple ammonia treated method.