Influence of Citric Acid on Size Distribution of Ru Particles and the Catalytic Activities of the Ru/AC Catalysts

Citric acid (CA) was used to modify graphited activated carbon (AC) for improving size distribution of Ru particles and catalytic activity of the Ru/AC catalyst. The influence of CA on the texture of AC and Ru/AC, Ru distribution and catalytic activity were investigated. TEM, TGA, TPD-MS, CO pulse chemisorption and N₂ physisorption indicate that CA modified AC creates more functional groups and thus more homogeneous dispersion of Ru nanoparticles. TEM images show most of the Ru particles were ca. 2–2.5 nm for the CA4 + Ru4/AC catalyst. The increase of ammonia synthesis activity for Ru–Ba–K/AC catalyst is more than 16% when the content of CA in AC is 4 wt.% at 673 K and 10,000 h^?1.