| Summary: | A series of heterogenous catalysts based on supported ruthenium were prepared from RuCl3 precusor by impregnation method. The effect of support materials (bentonite, TiO2, Al2O3 and SiO2) on catalytic activity of Ru catalyst for hydrogenolysis of glycerol were investigated under mild reaction condition of 150°C and 20 bar initial hydrogen pressure for 7 hours reaction time and glycerol concentration was 20%(wt). It was found that the type of support material have significant effects on the activity and selectivity of glycerol hydrogenolysis. The order of Ru catalyst activity was Ru/bentonite > Ru/Al2O3 ≈ Ru/TiO2 > Ru/SiO2. This study showed that bentonite supported Ru catalyst was the most active with glycerol conversion reaching 62.5% compared to other supports. All the tested catalyst exhibited high selectivity to 1,2-propanediol with more than 80%. Characterization of the catalysts was carried out using BET, XPS, FESEM-EDX and TEM to obtain the physicochemical properties of the catalysts. © 2016, Malaysian Society of Analytical Sciences. All rights reserved.
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