Transformation of biomass polyol into hydrocarbon fuels in aqueous medium over Ru-Mo/CNT catalyst

The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of sorbitol in aqueous medium was performed over CNT supported Ru-Mo bimetallic catalyst. Compared with Ru-Mo/AC, Ru-Mo/CNT showed higher yield and selectivity towards C5/C6 alkanes due to the higher relative rate of C-O vs. C-C bond cleavage of sorbitol. Based on TEM, XPS and H-2-TPR characterizations, the role of CNT in HDO reaction was studied to clarify the likely reasons for the selective C-O vs. C-C bond cleavage. It is suggested that an increase concentration of MoOx (x < 3) species and a smaller metal particle size in the Ru-Mo/CNT catalyst are key factors for the improvement of HDO performance