Nitrogen functional groups on an activated carbon surface to effect the ruthenium catalysts in acetylene hydrochlorination

Abstract

To improve the activity and stability of Ru-based catalysts with a carbon support for acetylene hydrochlorination, activated carbon (AC) was consecutively modified by nitration, amination and pyridine, and the effect of the different carbon supports on the Ru-based catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination was investigated. The results of the FT-IR studies confirmed that –NO₂, –NH₂ and –N–H–N groups were separately grafted onto the surface of the AC. Under the same reaction conditions, the modified catalysts exhibited better catalytic activity compared with the original Ru/AC catalyst. Moreover, the catalyst Ru/AC-NHN showed the best catalytic performance with a slight decrease after 48 h from 93.2% to 91.8%. The increase in catalytic activity indicates that the modification with nitrogen functional groups is beneficial for acetylene hydrochlorination.