Improved activity of a silica supported ruthenium catalyst by carbon monoxide pretreatment

Silica supported ruthenium catalysts have been prepd. by incipient wetness impregnation with RuCl3 (aq.). After drying and redn. these catalysts were addnl. treated with carbon monoxide or CO/H2 at 250 Deg. Due to this treatment the catalyst's carbon monoxide chemisorption capacity significantly increased compared to normal redn. At the same time the intrinsic reactivity for carbon monoxide dissocn. is enhanced. These effects are attributed to the structural changes of the catalysts. A model, based on TPR, XPS, IR and TEM measurements, is proposed. The carbon monoxide treatment results in a catalyst that is better reducible and has larger metal ensembles. [on SciFinder (R)