Effect of sulfuric acid on textural properties and catalytic performance of ruthenium-containing ordered mesoporous carbon prepared via a direct RuCl3/SBA-15 hard templated method.

Ruthenium-containing ordered mesoporous carbon (Ru-OMC) catalysts with highly dispersed Ru nanoparticles semi-embedded in carbon framework were prepared via a direct RuCl3/SBA-15 hard templated method. The effect of sulfuric acid on the texture structure and catalytic performance of Ru-OMC were studied. The status of Ru nanoparticles and mesoporous structure of Ru-OMC catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), nitrogen sorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and CO chemisorption techniques. The addition of appropriate amount of sulfuric acid is necessary to improve the ordered mesoporous structure of Ru-OMC catalysts. The framework of carbon structure shrinks with the increase in sulfur acid contents, which is proved by a slight decrease in surface area and increase in pore diameters for Ru-OMC with different sulfur contents. The turnover frequency (TOF) for Ru-OMC reaches the highest up to 3.98 s(-1) in benzene hydrogenation with optimized sulfur acid content of 0.08 mmol/g sucrose.