Biomass processing to value-added chemicals and biofuels received considerable attention due to the renewable nature of the precursors. Here, we report the development of Ru-containing magnetically recoverable catalysts for cellulose hydrogenolysis to low alcohols, ethylene glycol (EG) and propylene glycol (PG). The catalysts are synthesized by incorporation of magnetite nanoparticles (NPs) in mesoporous silica pores followed by formation of 2 nm Ru NPs. The latter are obtained by thermal decomposition of ruthenium acetylacetonate in the pores. The catalysts showed excellent activities and selectivities at 100% cellulose conversion, exceeding those for the commercial Ru/C. High selectivities as well as activities are attributed to the influence of Fe3O4 on the Ru(0)/Ru(4+) NPs. A facile synthetic protocol, easy magnetic separation, and stability of the catalyst performance after magnetic recovery make these catalysts promising for industrial applications.
Keywords: cellulose; hydrogenolysis; magnetically recoverable catalysts; nanoparticles; ruthenium.