Hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol on tungstated zirconia supported Ru catalysts

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.apcata.2017.05.037

Ru nanoparticles supported on tungstated zirconia (WZr) were prepared and used for the catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol to deoxygenated hydrocarbon fuels. The tuning of tungsten, from 5 to 20?wt%, adjusted the number of acid sites on the tungstated zirconia and the size of the Ru nanoparticles. The optimum fraction of tungsten was determined for the optimum hydrodeoxygenation activity. The conversion of guaiacol reached a maximum of 96.8% for 10?wt% of tungsten. Increasing the tungsten fraction increased the number of acid sites and the dispersion of Ru, but the formation of tungsten oxide (WO_x) particles with too large fraction of tungsten inhibited the formation of smaller Ru nanoparticles, thus reducing the catalytic activity.

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.apcata.2017.05.037

Accepted Manuscript
Title: Hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol on tungstated zirconia
supported Ru catalysts
Authors: Adid Adep Dwiatmoko, Inho Kim, Lipeng Zhou,
Jae-Wook Choi, Dong Jin Suh, Jungho Jae, Jeong-Myeong Ha
PII:
S0926-860X(17)30246-6
DOI:
Reference:
http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.apcata.2017.05.037
APCATA 16259
To appear in:
Applied Catalysis A: General
Received date:
Revised date:
Accepted date:
24-3-2017
8-5-2017
29-5-2017
Please cite this article as: Adid Adep Dwiatmoko, Inho Kim, Lipeng Zhou, Jae-
Wook Choi, Dong Jin Suh, Jungho Jae, Jeong-Myeong Ha, Hydrodeoxygenation
of guaiacol on tungstated zirconia supported Ru catalysts, Applied Catalysis A,
Generalhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2017.05.037
This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication.
As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript.
The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof
before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process
errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that
apply to the journal pertain.

Hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol on tungstated zirconia supported Ru catalysts
Adid Adep Dwiatmoko1,2,3, Inho Kim1,2, Lipeng Zhou1,4, Jae-Wook Choi1, Dong Jin Suh1,2,5
Jungho Jae1,6, Jeong-Myeong Ha1,5,6*
,
1Clean Energy Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 02792,
Republic of Korea
2Department of Green Process and System Engineering, Korea University of Science and
Technology, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea
3Research Center for Chemistry, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Kawasan Puspiptek,
Serpong, Tangerang, Indonesia
4Department of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, 100 Kexue Road, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan,
PR China
5Green School (Graduate School of Energy and Environment), Korea University, Seoul 02841,
Republic of Korea
6Department of Clean Energy and Chemical Engineering, Korea University of Science and
Technology, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 958 5837; fax: +82 2 958 5209.
E-mail address: jmha@kist.re.kr (J.-M. Ha)
1

Graphical abstarct
Highlights




Ru nanoparticles supported on tungsten-added zirconia
Hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol using using Ru/W/ZrO2 bifunctional catalyst.
Catalytic activity depending on the Ru particle size.
Ru particle size depending on the combination of acidity and WOx particles.
Abstract
Ru nanoparticles supported on tungstated zirconia (WZr) were prepared and used for the
catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol to deoxygenated hydrocarbon fuels. The tuning of
tungsten, from 5 to 20 wt%, adjusted the number of acid sites on the tungstated zirconia and the
size of the Ru nanoparticles. The optimum fraction of tungsten was determined for the optimum
hydrodeoxygenation activity. The conversion of guaiacol reached a maximum of 96.8% for 10
wt% of tungsten. Increasing the tungsten fraction increased the number of acid sites and the
2

dispersion of Ru, but the formation of tungsten oxide (WOx) particles with too large a fraction of
tungsten inhibited the formation of smaller Ru nanoparticles, thus reducing the catalytic activity.
Keywords: tungstated zirconia, ruthenium, guaiacol, biomass, lignin, hydrodeoxygenation
3

1. Introduction
Metal nanoparticles on solid acids exhibit the bifunctional catalytic properties of hydrogen
adsorption on metals and the defunctionalization of substrates on solid acids, and these
characteristics are required for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of oxygenates [1-3]. The
proximity of metal nanoparticles and solid acids may have additional synergistic effects on the
catalytic activity [4,5] which can be predetermined when designing acid-supported nanoparticle
catalysts. A lot of multifunctional or bifunctional catalysts composed of more than one active
component have been reported. Noble metal nanoparticles supported on solid acids attributed to
hydrogen adsorption during the HDO reaction; rhodium and ruthenium were found to exhibit
high HDO activity in our previous study [1-3,6]. The acidic supports manipulate the HDO
reaction pathway and the product distributions [1,7], which determine the activity of the HDO
catalysts by adjusting the dehydration or other deoxygenation processes.
Renewable biomass has been studied as a resource for the manufacturing of sustainable fuels and
fine chemicals [8] without increasing atmospheric CO2 [9]. The liquid oils, or bio-oils, obtained
by thermolysis processes including pyrolysis [10,11] and hydrothermal liquefaction [12,13] are
used as feedstocks for hydrodeoxygenation. Because of their of oxygen atoms, bio-oils require
deoxygenation if they are to be used as petroleum-like fuels and chemicals [14].
Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a process which stabilizes and upgrades oxygenated reactants;
this process involves hydrogenation using hydrogen-adsorbed metals and deoxygenation using a
solid acid support [1,15].
4

In this study, the strong solid acid tungstated zirconia (WZr) is selected as an acidic support for
the HDO catalysts [16,17], which has been previously used for esterification [18-20], the
dehydration of glycerol [21-23], the isomerization of alkanes [24,25], and the conversion of
cellulose [26]. The surface density of tungsten oxide (WOx) adjusts the surface acidity of the
catalysts by creating Brønsted acid sites [16] and a crystallographic phase [27]. WOx also creates
strong interaction between deposited metals and WOx, promoting aqueous-phase HDO activity
[16,17]. Detailed information about the synergy between the components is not yet available. We
performed the HDO reaction of the bio-oil model guaiacol using Ru nanoparticles supported on
W/ZrO2 or Ru/WZr. The goal of this study is to understand the interaction between the metal and
the acidic W/ZrO2 and to determine the effects of the interaction on the HDO reaction pathway.
This understanding should help in the development of more efficient bifunctional catalysts.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
All chemicals were used without further purification unless indicated otherwise. 4-
Methylcyclohexanol (98%) was purchased from TCI (Tokyo, Japan). Methylcyclohexane (99%),
cyclohexane (99%), cyclohexanone (99.8%), cyclohexanol (99%), cyclohexene (99%, inhibitor-
free), guaiacol (99%), and ammonium metatungstate hydrate (99.99%) were purchased from
Aldrich (Milwaukee, WI, USA). Zirconium oxychloride octahydrate was purchased from Kanto
Chemical (Tokyo, Japan). 2-Methoxycyclohexanol (97%) and ruthenium (III) chloride (RuCl3,
anhydrous) were purchased from Alfa (Ward Hill, MA, USA). Tungstated zirconia was obtained
5

from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd. (Osaka, Japan).
2.2. Preparation of catalysts
2.2.1. Preparation of tungstated zirconia and other supports
Zirconium oxyhydroxide was prepared by hydrolysis of 0.5 M zirconium oxychloride solution
using the drop wise addition of aqueous ammonia solution (28%) to a final pH of 10. The
precipitate was filtered and washed with deionized water to remove chloride ions. The obtained
zirconium oxyhydroxide was then dried at 120 C for 12 h and ground in an agate mortar to
obtain well-powder and homogenized sample. A series of tungstated zirconia catalysts were
prepared by hydrothermal impregnation of zirconium oxyhydroxide with aqueous solutions of
ammonium metatungstate to yield nominal tungsten loadings of 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%. The
resulting slurries were stirred for 30 min at room temperature and put in the autoclave at 180 C
for 12 h. The slurries were then evaporated in vacuum condition to dryness at 70 C, and
subsequently calcined in air at a temperature of 800 C for 2 h. The resulting powdered solids
were designated xWZr(syn), where x is the nominal bulk tungsten loading. ZrO2 without W
(ZrO2(syn), ZrO2 prepared in our lab) was also prepared by calcination of zirconium
oxyhydroxide in air at temperature of 800 C for 2 h. Tungsten oxide was also prepared by
calcination of ammonium metatungstate in air at temperature of 800 C for 2 h. For comparison,
Mo-deposited ZrO2 (MoZr) and V-deposited ZrO2 (VZr) were also prepared as supports. Mo and
V were loaded on zirconium oxyhydroxide by the above-mentioned method with aqueous
solution of ammonium heptamolybdate and ammonium metavanadate to yield nominal Mo and
V loadings of 15 wt%. In addition, tungstated zirconia was also prepared by wet impregnation of
6

zirconium oxyhydroxide with aqueous solutions of ammonium metatungstate to yield nominal W
loading of 15 wt%. The resulting slurries were stirred at room temperature for 12 h. The slurries
were then evaporated in vacuum condition to dryness at 70 C, and subsequently calcined in air
at a temperature of 800 C for 2 h. The prepared catalyst was designated as WZr(imp).
2.2.2. Preparation of supported ruthenium catalysts.
Ruthenium (5 wt-%) loadings were prepared by wet impregnation method using ruthenium(III)
chloride hydrate as precursor. Prior to impregnation, the support powders were sieved to obtain
particles smaller than 150 μm. The impregnated catalysts were calcined under air flow at 400 °C
for 2 h, and reduced in a flow of 5% H2/Ar at 400 °C for 4 h. The prepared catalysts were
passivated with a flow of 0.5% O2/N2 at room temperature for 30 min and stored under ambient
conditions [1].
2.3. Characterizations of catalysts
TEM images of the prepared catalysts were obtained using a Tecnai G2 F20 at 200 kV.
Ammonia temperature-programmed desorption (NH3-TPD) measurements were performed to
confirm the acidity of the catalysts. Approximately 50 mg of catalyst was placed in a quartz
reactor and saturated with ammonia at 100 C. The desorbed NH3 was measured using a TCD
while the catalyst was heated from 100 to 700 °C at a heating rate of 10 °C/min in He flow (30
mL/min). Powder X-ray diffraction (powder XRD) results were obtained using a Rigaku X-ray
diffractometer with a CuKα1 (λ = 0.15406 nm) radiation source operated at 40 kV and 30 mA.
N2-physisorption was performed using a Micromeritics ASAP 2020 instrument, with samples
7

degassed at 120 °C for 2 h prior to recording adsorption/desorption isotherms. The total surface
area and pore volume were determined using the BET (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) equation. The
pore size distribution (PSD) curves were calculated by BJH (Barrett–Joyner–Halenda) method.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results for the prepared catalysts were recorded on a
PHI 5000 VeraProbe spectrometer (ULVAC-PHI), and the obtained spectra were calibrated
using C 1s at 284.6 eV. Raman spectra analysis was performed at National Center for Inter-
University Research Facilities (Seoul, Korea) using a T64000 Triple Raman Spectrometers
(HORIBA Scientific). CO-chemisorption was performed using a BELCAT-B catalyst analyzer.
The catalyst powder (30 mg), after being placed in a U-shaped quartz reactor, was heated under
He flow (50 mL/min) to 350 °C at a rate of 10 °C/min. This was followed by H2 treatment at 350
°C for 1 h. The powder was then cooled to 50 °C under He flow (50 mL/min) and further treated
at 50 °C for 30 min in order to clean the metal surface of the residual adsorbed hydrogen. The
powder was subsequently exposed to pulses of 10% (v/v) CO/He at 50 °C under He flow (30
mL/min). The number of active-surface metal atoms was calculated from the measured CO
concentrations of the effluent gas.
2.4. Catalytic HDO of guaiacol
The hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol was performed in a stainless steel autoclave reactor
(volume: 110 mL). In a typical reaction procedure, guaiacol (8.96 mmol), water (29 mL), and a
solid catalyst (20 mg) were added to the reactor. After flushing with N2 gas, the reactor was
pressurized to 40 bar with H2 at room temperature. The reaction was performed at 270 °C for 1 h
at an agitation rate of 800 rpm. The reactor was heated from room temperature to 270 C at a rate
8

of 4 C/min. After the reaction, the reactor was cooled to room temperature and the mixture was
extracted with ethyl acetate. The catalyst powder was removed and the liquid product was
collected. The extracted products were identified using a gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer
combination (GC/MS, Agilent 7890A with 5975C inert MS XLD) with an HP-5MS capillary
column (60 m × 0.25 mm × 250 μm); products were further quantified using a gas
chromatograph with an HP-5 capillary column (60 m × 0.25 mm × 250 μm) equipped with a
flame ionized detector (GC/FID, HP Chemstation Series II 5890) using ethyl guaiacol as an
internal standard.
The complex mixture of the products obtained from guaiacol was classified into three groups,
which were compounds containing no oxygen atoms (0-Os), those containing one oxygen atom
(1-Os), and those containing two oxygen atoms (2-Os). The 0-Os included cyclopentane,
methylcyclopentane, and cyclohexane. The major 1-O compounds included cyclohexanol,
cyclohexanone, cyclopentanemethanol, methoxybenzene, and phenol. 2-Methoxycyclohexanol,
1,2-cyclohexanediol, and 1,2-benzenediol were the major compounds of the 2-Os group.
Conversion of guaiacol (XGUA), product yields (Yi), and product selectivity (Si) were calculated
as follows:
n0GUA − nf
GUA ∙ 100
(
)
Conversion XGUA, % =
n0GUA
ni
(
)
Yield Y , % =
∙ 100
i
푚푖
n0GUA
푚퐺푈퐴
Yi
(
)
Selectivity Si, % =
∙ 100
XGUA
where n0
is the initial amount of guaiacol (mmol), nfGUA is the final amount of guaiacol
GUA
9

(mmol), ni is the amount of i-product in the liquid phase (mmol), and mi and mGUA are the
stoichiometric coefficients in the reaction of guaiacol conversion to i-product.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effects of preparation methods on the catalytic activity
The catalytic activity of WZr-supported Ru catalysts prepared by different methods was studied
to understand the effects of how these catalysts are prepared on their activity. Based on our
previous study, Ru metal was selected as the best precious metal catalyst for hydrodeoxygenation
[1-3]. Two different types of WZrs were prepared in our lab, as described in the experimental
section: (i) WZr(syn) was prepared by the hydrothermal impregnation of tungsten into zirconia
prepared in our lab, and (ii) WZr(imp) was prepared by the wet impregnation of tungsten, at
room temperature, to zirconia, also prepared in our lab. X-ray diffraction measurements
exhibited that both supports had similar structures (Fig. S1). Ru/WZr(syn) exhibited much better
activity than Ru/WZr(imp) (Table 1). Replacing tungsten, Mo-deposited ZrO2 (MoZr) and V-
deposited ZrO2 (VZr) were also used as supports; these materials also exhibited catalytic activity,
although the fully deoxygenated products formed only to a lesser extent.
(Table 1)
Spent Ru/WZr was used for the recyclability test (Fig. S2). Although the conversion of guaiacol
decreased from 98.5 to 86.7% and the selectivity to 0-Os decreased from 49.8 to 43.7% during
10

the third run, a significant decrease in the activity was not observed. The decreasing activity of
the spent catalysts could be attributed to the decreasing number of active sites of ruthenium. Ru
dispersion measured by CO-chemisorption decreased from [CO]/[Ru] = 0.087 (fresh catalyst) to
0.036 (after the third run).
3.2. Characterization of Ru/WZr(syn) depending on the quantity of tungsten.
The crystal structures of xWZr(syn) were observed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) (Fig. 1).
Without adding tungsten, only the monoclinic ZrO2 formed [28]. With the addition of 5 wt% W,
the diffraction peaks of tetragonal ZrO2 appeared. An additional addition of tungsten increased
the intensity ratio of the diffraction peaks of monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2, which indicated
that the formation of tetragonal ZrO2 was preferred with the addition of tungsten, as was reported
for doped ZrO2, which exhibited cubic or tetragonal structures [28]. In the presence of tungsten
oxide (WOx) species after impregnation, metastable tetragonal ZrO2 crystallites were stabilized
during calcination in air at 800 C. WOx species strongly influence the formation of zirconium
oxyhydroxide crystallization into ZrO2 [29]. As a result, the fraction of tetragonal ZrO2 contents
was increased by increasing the W loading amount.
(Fig. 1)
The chemical structures of WZr(syn) were further observed using Raman spectroscopy (Fig. 2).
The peak at 952 cm-1, indicating the formation of isolated/polymeric surface mono-oxo W=O
species, increased when increasing the amount of tungsten added, which confirmed the formation
11

of WOx particles from the highly dispersed tungsten atoms on the ZrO2 surface, although the
formation of WOx particles was not confirmed in the XRD results (Fig. 1). The formation of O-
W-O, which was confirmed by the presence of the 806 and 713 cm-1 peaks of the WO3 reference,
was not observed for WZr(syn). These bands correspond to well-ordered WO3 nanoparticles
[30]. With an increase in the quantity of tungsten, the peak of tetragonal ZrO2 at 490 cm-1 also
increased, as also confirmed by the XRD analysis. Peaks of W=O at 952 cm-1 and tetragonal
ZrO2 at 490 cm-1 were not observed for the WO3 reference, indicating that tungsten did not form
isolated well-ordered WO3 nanoparticles on WZr(syn) for additions of up to 20 wt% of tungsten
and that the formation of tetragonal ZrO2 is attributable to the addition of tungsten to ZrO2. The
formation of tungsten agglomerates or WOx particles with increasing quantities of tungsten was
further observed using HAADF-STEM (Fig. 3). Although uniform distributions of Zr and W
were observed for Ru/15WZr(syn), tiny agglomerates of tungsten were also observed,
confirming the Raman spectra observations.
(Fig. 2)
(Fig. 3)
While the formation of WOx particles occurred after increasing the quantity of tungsten, the
electronic structures of Ru and W with different fractions of tungsten were observed using X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (Fig. 4). For the Ru 3d peaks, only Ru 3d5/2 peaks were analyzed
because Ru 3d3/2 overlapped C 1s at 284.6 eV. The peak locations of Ru 3d5/2 were red-shifted by
approximately 0.5 eV from 280.1 to 279.6 eV with an increase in the quantity of tungsten. When
12

a large quantity of tungsten was deposited, Ru became more electron-rich, which may improve
the hydrogenation activity by electron back-donation to dissociate hydrogen molecules. Both
cationic (shoulder at approximately 281 eV) and metallic (at 280.1 eV) Ru peaks were observed
because Ru nanoparticles were exposed to air after the preparation of the catalyst. For the W 4f
peaks, both W 4f5/2 and W 4f7/2 peaks, which were attributed to W6+ surface species and W5+
surface species from tungsten species on the surface of ZrO2, did not significantly change with
an increase in the quantity of tungsten, although the intensity increased. Small shifts in the W 4f
peaks towards higher binding energy, caused by the greater formation of polytungstate clusters
on the zirconia surface, as confirmed by a Raman analysis [20], were observed for both the
15WZr and 20WZr samples.
(Fig. 4)
The acidity of WZr(syn) was measured using NH3-TPD (Fig. 5 and Table 2). With an increase in
the amount of tungsten added, the acidity increased from 0.017 (ZrO2(syn)) to 0.834 mmol/g
(20WZr(syn)), although isolated WO3 (no ZrO2) exhibited negligible acidity. These observations
indicate that the highly distributed tungstate species in the form of monomeric or polymeric
tungstate species and not WO3 crystallites[31] increased the acidity of WZr(syn) [32,33].
(Fig. 5)
(Table 2)
13

Because the surface area of the catalysts is one of the most important descriptors used to
determine the catalytic activity, the pore structures were observed using N2-physisorption (Table
2). ZrO2(syn) showed a low BET surface area of 9.8 m2/g, likely attributable to the formation of
monoclinic crystal from zirconium oxyhydroxide [19]. The addition of W to ZrO2 significantly
increased the surface area of the catalysts. WZr(syn) exhibited BET surface area which ranged
from 34.9 - 52.3 m2/g and a negligible micropore surface area. The increase in the surface area
was caused by the strong interaction of W with ZrO2, which reduces the surface diffusion of
ZrO2, inhibits sintering, and stabilizes the tetragonal phase of ZrO2, leading to an increase in the
surface area [34]. The fraction of tetragonal ZrO2 compared to monoclinic ZrO2 increased with
an increase in the concentration of tungsten, but it is not clear as to whether the acidity is related
to the crystal structure, although the possible dependence of the acidity on the crystal structure
cannot be dismissed. The dispersions of Ru nanoparticles supported on ZrO2(syn), WZr(syn),
and WO3 were measured using CO-chemisorption (Table 2). Similar to our previous works
[2,6,35], the dispersions of Ru nanoparticles for all catalysts were relatively low. In addition, the
results indicated that WZr(syn) with less tungsten added (5WZr(syn) and 10WZr(syn)) allowed a
larger dispersion of Ru, although the BET surface areas of 5WZr(syn) and 10WZr(syn) were not
larger.
Based on the observations in Table 2, the acidity per surface area and the fraction of tetragonal
ZrO2 were correlated with the surface density of tungsten on ZrO2 (Fig. 6). The acidity (per
surface area) appears to increase with an increase in the surface density of tungsten, indicating
that the coupling of highly dispersed tungsten and ZrO2 produced acid sites [32,33], as confirmed
by the Raman spectroscopy analysis. The formation of tetragonal ZrO2, which has been reported
14

to be catalytically active in many reactions frequently with the help of dopants [36,37], appears
to occur because of the addition of W, but the fraction of tetragonal ZrO2 did not significantly
increase with an increase in the tungsten density, indicating that the nucleation of tetragonal
ZrO2 was initiated with a small quantity of tungsten and that a further addition of tungsten did
not significantly affect the formation of tetragonal ZrO2.
(Fig. 6)
The characterizations of Ru/xWZr(syn) indicated the following: (i) tungsten is well distributed
on the surface of ZrO2 when its fraction is small, but it forms isolated WOx particles with an
increase in the quantity of tungsten; (ii) supported Ru nanoparticles become more electron-rich
as the quantity of tungsten increases; and (iii) surface acid sites are created by the addition of
tungsten, and their quantity of these sites is proportional to the quantity of the deposited
tungsten.
3.3. Catalytic activity of Ru/WZr(syn) depending on the quantity of tungsten.
Based on the characterization results, the hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol, the process of which
requires both acidity and hydrogen adsorption [1-3,6,38], was to correlate the catalytic activity of
Ru/xWZr(syn) with its structure (Fig. 7 and Table S1). With an increase in the conversion of
guaiacol, the yield of 0-Os increased while those of 1-Os decreased, indicating that the
deoxygenation of guaiacol occurs upon the hydrogenation active sites on the catalysts (Fig. S3).
The conversion of guaiacol increased as the amount of W increased, but it reached a maximum
15

of 96.8% for Ru/10WZr(syn) and decreased with a further addition of W. This indicates that the
conversion of Ru/xWZr(syn) was optimized for Ru/10WZr(syn). Similar results were observed
when the reaction was performed at a lower temperature (Fig. S4). The conversion of guaiacol
was highly affected by the dispersion of Ru, [CO]/[Ru], as described in Table 2 and Fig. 8.
Highly dispersed Ru particles can facilitate the adsorption of hydrogen atoms, improving the
hydrogenation of guaiacol and its derivatives, following the reported reaction pathway [1].
Compared to the conversion of guaiacol, the selectivity of deoxygenated products, represented
by 1-Os in this study, was not determined by the acid sites; this point is different from
observations in our previous reports [1,38] but supports our recent work, which has emphasized
the dispersion of metal [2]. Although the dispersion of Ru appears to determine the HDO
activity, both the conversion of guaiacol and the selectivity to 0-Os reached maximum levels at
[CO]/[Ru] = 0.048 (Ru/10WZr(syn)) and decreased at [CO]/[Ru] = 0.063 (Ru/5WZr(syn)). We
believe that the quantity of acid sites slightly affected the catalytic activity because more active
Ru/10WZr(syn) has more acid sites than less active Ru/5WZr(syn) does, although the effects of
Ru dispersion are more important.
(Fig. 7)
(Fig. 8)
While the combination of metal nanoparticles and an acidic support is important when preparing
highly active catalysts for the hydrodeoxygenation process, the optimized complex of Ru
nanoparticles and acidic WZr appears to exhibit high activity. Increasing the number of acid sites
16

is known to increase the dispersion of metal nanoparticles. This study also demonstrated that the
Ru dispersions of Ru/ZrO2(syn), Ru/5WZr(syn), and Ru/10WZr(syn) increased with an increase
in the quantity of acid sites (Table 2 and Fig. 8). The Ru dispersion, however, decreased for
Ru/15WZr(syn) and Ru/20WZr(syn) despite the fact that the acidity of these supports are greater.
Based on the results described in Table 2 and Fig. 8, we formed a hypothesis regarding the
effects of tungsten on ZrO2 on the Ru dispersion, as depicted in Fig. 9. An increase in the
quantity of acid sites with an increase in the quantity of tungsten increased the Ru dispersion or
the number of Ru active sites, but too large a quantity of tungsten appears to inhibit the
formation of smaller Ru nanoparticles (Fig. 9). Increasing the fraction of tungsten produced WOx
particles (Fig. 2) which did not favor the deposition of Ru nanoparticles. Therefore, Ru
nanoparticles, for which smaller ZrO2 spaces for their deposition were observed, became larger
with the formation of WOx, which occupied the ZrO2 surface. Although increasing the quantity
of tungsten improved the formation of acid sites, the decreasing number of Ru nanoparticles with
the formation of WOx decreased the catalytic HDO activity. The highly dispersed tungsten with
the smaller fraction of tungsten and the blocking of the ZrO2 surface because of WOx particles
with the larger fraction of tungsten modified the size of the Ru nanoparticles and thus adjusted
the HDO activity.
(Fig. 9)
4. Conclusion
Ru nanoparticles supported on tungstated-zirconia were prepared and their hydrodeoxygenation
17

activity was observed. The acidity created by highly dispersed tungsten produced smaller Ru
nanoparticles with larger surface Ru atoms, improving the catalytic hydrodeoxygenation activity.
In contrast, the formation of WOx large addition of tungsten inhibited the formation of highly
dispersed Ru particles, which reduced the hydrodeoxygenation activity. As a result of these
observations, it can be said that an optimum fraction of tungsten to modify the acidity and the Ru
dispersion does exist and can be used to achieve the optimal catalytic hydrodeoxygenation
activity.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the New & Renewable Energy Core Technology Program of the
Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) granted financial
resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (No.
20143010091790 and 20163010092210).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at
18

References
[1] C.R. Lee, J.S. Yoon, Y.-W. Suh, J.-W. Choi, J.-M. Ha, D.J. Suh, Y.-K. Park, Catal.
Commun., 17 (2012) 54-58.
[2] A.A. Dwiatmoko, L. Zhou, I. Kim, J.-W. Choi, D.J. Suh, J.-M. Ha, Catal. Today, 265 (2016)
192-198.
[3] J.S. Yoon, J.-W. Choi, D.J. Suh, K. Lee, H. Lee, J.-M. Ha, ChemCatChem, 7 (2015) 2669-
2674.
[4] I. Yati, M. Ridwan, G.E. Jeong, Y. Lee, J.-W. Choi, C.W. Yoon, D.J. Suh, J.-M. Ha, Catal.
Commun., 56 (2014) 11-16.
[5] I. Yati, A.A. Dwiatmoko, J.S. Yoon, J.-W. Choi, D.J. Suh, J. Jae, J.-M. Ha, Appl. Catal., A,
524 (2016) 243-250.
[6] A.A. Dwiatmoko, S. Lee, H.C. Ham, J.-W. Choi, D.J. Suh, J.-M. Ha, ACS Catal., 5 (2015)
433-437.
[7] A. Foster, P.M. Do, R. Lobo, Top. Catal., 55 (2012) 118-128.
[8] R.A. Sheldon, Green Chem., 16 (2014) 950-963.
[9] F. Orecchini, E. Bocci, Energy, 32 (2007) 1006-1011.
[10] C. Liu, H. Wang, A.M. Karim, J. Sun, Y. Wang, Chem. Soc. Rev., 43 (2014) 7594-7623.
[11] J. Choi, J.-W. Choi, D.J. Suh, J.-M. Ha, J.W. Hwang, H.W. Jung, K.-Y. Lee, H.-C. Woo,
Energy Convers. Manage., 86 (2014) 371-378.
[12] H.-S. Lee, J. Jae, J.-M. Ha, D.J. Suh, Bioresour. Technol., 203 (2016) 142-149.
[13] H.-S. Lee, H. Lee, J.-M. Ha, J. Kim, D.J. Suh, Industrial Crops and Products, 76 (2015)
104-111.
[14] T. Sundqvist, A. Oasmaa, A. Koskinen, Energy Fuels, 29 (2015) 2527-2534.
[15] Q. Zhang, J. Chang, T. Wang, Y. Xu, Energy Convers. Manage., 48 (2007) 87-92.
[16] O.G. Marin-Flores, A.M. Karim, Y. Wang, Catal. Today, 237 (2014) 118-124.
[17] C. Liu, J. Sun, H.M. Brown, O.G. Marin-Flores, J.T. Bays, A.M. Karim, Y. Wang, Catal.
Today, (2015).
[18] D.E. Lopez, J.G. Goodwin, D.A. Bruce, S. Furuta, Appl. Catal. A, 339 (2008) 76-83.
[19] D.E. Lopez, K. Suwannakarn, D.A. Bruce, J.G. Goodwin, J. Catal., 247 (2007) 43-50.
[20] V.C. dos Santos, K. Wilson, A.F. Lee, S. Nakagaki, Appl. Catal., B, 162 (2015) 75-84.
[21] S.R. Ginjupalli, S. Mugawar, N.P. Rajan, P.K. Balla, V.R.C. Komandur, Appl. Surf. Sci.,
309 (2014) 153-159.
[22] S.H. Chai, B. Yan, L.Z. Tao, Y. Liang, B.Q. Xu, Catal. Today, 234 (2014) 215-222.
[23] S.H. Chai, L.Z. Tao, B. Yan, J.C. Vedrine, B.Q. Xu, Rsc Adv, 4 (2014) 4619-4630.
[24] J.M. Hidalgo, D. Kaucky, O. Bortnovsky, R. Cerny, Z. Sobalik, Rsc Adv, 5 (2015) 56625-
56628.
[25] J.E. Bruno, K.M. Dooley, Appl. Catal. A, 497 (2015) 176-183.
[26] F. Chambon, F. Rataboul, C. Pinel, A. Cabiac, E. Guillon, N. Essayem, Appl. Catal. A, 504
(2015) 664-671.
[27] Y.K. Hong, D.W. Lee, H.J. Eom, K.Y. Lee, Appl. Catal. B, 150 (2014) 438-445.
[28] C.J. Howard, R.J. Hill, B.E. Reichert, Acta Crystallogr. Sect. B: Struct. Sci., 44 (1988) 116-
120.
[29] D.G. Barton, S.L. Soled, G.D. Meitzner, G.A. Fuentes, E. Iglesia, J. Catal., 181 (1999) 57-
72.
19

[30] E.I. Ross-Medgaarden, W.V. Knowles, T. Kim, M.S. Wong, W. Zhou, C.J. Kiely, I.E.
Wachs, J. Catal., 256 (2008) 108-125.
[31] W. Ji, J. Hu, Y. Chen, Catal. Lett., 53 (1998) 15-21.
[32] R. Kourieh, V. Rakic, S. Bennici, A. Auroux, Catal. Commun., 30 (2013) 5-13.
[33] F. Di Gregorio, V. Keller, J. Catal., 225 (2004) 45-55.
[34] G. Sunita, B.M. Devassy, A. Vinu, D.P. Sawant, V.V. Balasubramanian, S.B. Halligudi,
Catal. Commun., 9 (2008) 696-702.
[35] M. Kim, D. Son, J.-W. Choi, J. Jae, D.J. Suh, J.-M. Ha, K.-Y. Lee, Chem. Eng. J., 309
(2017) 187-196.
[36] M.A. Jaworski, S. Rodríguez Vega, G.J. Siri, M.L. Casella, A. Romero Salvador, A. Santos
López, Appl. Catal., A, 505 (2015) 36-43.
[37] N. Shimoda, S. Umehara, M. Kasahara, T. Hongo, A. Yamazaki, S. Satokawa, Appl. Catal.,
A, 507 (2015) 56-64.
[38] J.S. Yoon, Y. Lee, J. Ryu, Y.-A. Kim, E.D. Park, J.-W. Choi, J.-M. Ha, D.J. Suh, H. Lee,
Appl. Catal., B, 142–143 (2013) 668-676.
[39] H. Toraya, M. Yoshimura, S. Somiya, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 67 (1984) C-119-C-121.
20

List of Figures
Fig. 1. X-ray diffraction results of (a) ZrO2 prepared in our lab, (b) 5WZr(syn), (c) 10WZr(syn),
(d) 15WZr(syn), and (e) 20WZr(syn) prior to the deposition of Ru.
Fig. 2. Raman spectra of (a) ZrO2 prepared in our lab, (b) 5WZr(syn), (c) 10WZr(syn), (d)
20WZr(syn), and (e) WO3 prior to the deposition of Ru.
Fig. 3. TEM images of Ru/15WZr(syn).
Fig. 4. XPS spectra of (a) Ru/ZrO2(syn), (b) Ru/5WZr(syn), (c) Ru/10WZr(syn), (d)
Ru/15WZr(syn), and (e) Ru/20WZr(syn).
Fig. 5. NH3-TPD results of (a) ZrO2 prepared in our lab, (b) 5WZr(syn), (c) 10WZr(syn), (d)
15WZr(syn), (e) 20WZr(syn), and (f) WO3 prior to the deposition of Ru.
Fig. 6. Quantity of acid sites relative to the surface area and ratio of the tetragonal phase of
WZr(syn) depending on the density of the tungsten surface.
Fig. 7. Effects of the amount of tungsten on the HDO of guaiacol using Ru/WZr(syn). The
reaction was performed using guaiacol (8.96 mmol) dissolved in water (29 mL) and mixed with
the catalyst powder (20 mg) at 270 °C for 1 h while the reaction mixture was agitated at 800 rpm.
The batch reactor was filled with 40 bar (measured at room temperature) of H2.
Fig. 8. Conversion of guaiacol and selectivity to 0-Os depending on (a) [CO]/[Ru] and (b) the
quantity of acid sites, and (c) their correlation with the fraction of tungsten.
Fig. 9. Ru dispersion depending on the addition of tungsten.
21

Fig. 1. X-ray diffraction results of (a) ZrO2 prepared in our lab, (b) 5WZr(syn), (c) 10WZr(syn),
(d) 15WZr(syn), and (e) 20WZr(syn) prior to the deposition of Ru.
22

Fig. 2. Raman spectra of (a) ZrO2 prepared in our lab, (b) 5WZr(syn), (c) 10WZr(syn), (d)
20WZr(syn), and (e) WO3 prior to the deposition of Ru.
23

Fig. 3. TEM images of Ru/15WZr(syn).
24

Fig. 4. XPS spectra of (a) Ru/ZrO2(syn), (b) Ru/5WZr(syn), (c) Ru/10WZr(syn), (d)
Ru/15WZr(syn), and (e) Ru/20WZr(syn).
25

Fig. 5. NH3-TPD results of (a) ZrO2 prepared in our lab, (b) 5WZr(syn), (c) 10WZr(syn), (d)
15WZr(syn), (e) 20WZr(syn), and (f) WO3 prior to the deposition of Ru.
26

Fig. 6. Quantity of acid sites relative to the surface area and ratio of the tetragonal phase of
WZr(syn) depending on the density of the tungsten surface.
27

Fig. 7. Effects of the amount of tungsten on the HDO of guaiacol using Ru/WZr(syn). The
reaction was performed using guaiacol (8.96 mmol) dissolved in water (29 mL) and mixed with
the catalyst powder (20 mg) at 270 °C for 1 h while the reaction mixture was agitated at 800 rpm.
The batch reactor was filled with 40 bar (measured at room temperature) of H2.
28

Fig. 8. Conversion of guaiacol and selectivity to 0-Os depending on (a) [CO]/[Ru] and (b) the
quantity of acid sites, and (c) their correlation with the fraction of tungsten.
29