Enhanced Hydrogenation Catalytic Activity of Ruthenium Nanoparticles by Solid-Solution Alloying with Molybdenum

Abstract

We report the hydrogenation catalytic activity application of molybdenum–ruthenium (MoRu) solid-solution alloy nanoparticles (NPs) as catalysts for the hydrogenation of 1-octene and 1-octyne. The solid-solution structure of MoRu NPs was confirmed through scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) measurement. The hydrogenation catalytic activity of these NPs toward 1-octyne and 1-octene in tetrahydrofuran (THF) was tested. The hydrogenation catalytic activity of Ru was enhanced by alloying with Mo at the atomic level. An electronic modification of Ru by a charge transfer from Mo to Ru, which could induce the change in the adsorption energy of reactants resulting in enhanced catalytic activity, was observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.