Efficient hydrogen charge into monobenzyltoluene over Ru/MgO catalysts synthesized by thermolysis of Ru₃(CO)₁₂ on porous Mg(OH)₂ powder

Abstract

MgO-supported Ru catalysts for H₂ charge into monobenzyltoluene, which is a liquid organic hydrogen carrier, were developed by treating the precipitated Mg(OH)₂ with different methods, namely calcination and hydration, followed by the thermolysis of Ru₃(CO)₁₂-loaded samples under identical conditions. The subsequent investigations revealed that the H₂ storage efficiency depended on the surface atomic ratio of Ru/Mg and basicity of the synthesized catalysts that exhibited similar levels of Ru dispersion. In contrast, the Ru/MgO prepared from commercial Mg(OH)₂ exhibited inferior catalytic performance to the synthesized analogue, owing to its low Ru dispersion. All the presented results suggested that the surface OH-intact Mg(OH)₂ with a fairly high surface area and large pores is required for the synthesis of a highly active Ru/MgO catalyst via thermolysis of Ru₃(CO)₁₂.