Synergistic interaction of Ru clusters and nanoparticles on WO3 nanorods for highly selective hydrogenation of furfural

The Ru/WO 3 catalysts with various Ru contents (Ru weight percent-0.47 %, 0.96 %, 1.91 %, denoted as Ru/WO 3 -1, 2, 3, respectively) are prepared through NaBH 4 liquid phase chemical reduction strategy. Ru is uniformly dispersed as nanoparticles and nanoclusters on the WO 3 nanorods, and the catalytic performance of the Ru/WO 3 -3 catalysts for furfural (FF) selective hydrogenation at relatively mild conditions (reaction temperature-60 ℃, reaction time-8 h, hydrogen pressure-2.0 MPa) is investigated. It is found that the Ru/WO 3 -3 catalyst exhibits the most excellent catalytic performance, with 85.2 % conversion of FF, 97.3 % selectivity of furfuryl alcohol (FA), and highly stable. Characterization of XRD, XPS, TEM, HRTEM, H 2 -TPD, H 2 -TPR, N 2 -physical adsorption-desorption, STEM-EDX elemental line-scannig and mapping reveal that there is a synergistic effect and strong interaction between Ru and WO 3 . The ruthenium nanoclusters and nanoparticles are beneficial to the activation of H 2 , forming activated hydrogen species (H*), the interface of Ru-O-W is in favor of the adsorption and activation of C O, thus improving the selectivity of C O hydrogenation and forming FA.