Vapor Phase Hydrogenation of Nitrobenzene to Aniline Over Carbon Supported Ruthenium Catalysts.

A series of Ru/Carbon catalysts (0.5-6.0 wt%) were prepared by impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), CO-chemisorption, surface area and pore-size distribution measurements. The catalytic activities were evaluated for the vapor phase hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. The dispersion measured by CO-uptake values suggests that a decrease of dispersion is observed with increasing Ru loading on carbon support. These findings are well supported by the crystallite size measured from XRD measurements. XPS study reveals the formation of Ru0 after reduction at 573 K for 3 h. The catalysts exhibit high conversion/selectivity at 4.5 wt% Ru loading during hydrogenation reaction. The particle size measured from CO-chemisorption and TEM analysis are related to the TOF during the hydrogenation reaction. Ru/C catalysts are found to show higher conversion/selectivities during hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline.