Influence of oxidation on heat-treated activated carbon support properties and metallic dispersion of Ru/C catalyst

Heat-treated activated carbon has been oxidized to improve the properties related to the use as a support for the preparation of 5wt% Ru/C catalysts by impregnation. The pore structure, surface oxygen groups of the heat-treated activated carbon before and after oxidation in the gas and liquid phase, as well as catalytic activities and dispersion of Ru in the catalysts were investigated systematically. The pore structures of the samples were characterized by N₂ physisorption. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) was conducted to determine the chemical properties of the samples. Ru dispersion was measured by CO pulse chemisorption. The effects of oxidation treatments on carbon surface chemistry and pore structure which are closely related to Ru dispersion and catalytic activity, was examined. Furthermore, the modified heat-treated activated carbon support obtained by gas phase oxidation in CO₂ and liquid phase oxidation in nitric acid was more suitable to prepare Ru-based catalysts for ammonia synthesis than that without treatment.