Abstract
Ruthenium promoted Ni-Mg-Al Hydrotalcite (MANR-HT) was obtained by the urea hydrolysis method and subsequently explored for the selective reduction of furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL). Bimetallic Ni-Ru containing MANR-HT catalysts exhibited superior activity in contrast to their monometallic counterparts MAN-HT and MAR- HT. MANR2-HT catalyst having 15 wt. % Nickel and 2 wt. % Ruthenium shows good catalytic activity, with complete conversion of FAL to FOL at 150 degrees C and 10 bar H-2 pressure. The synergetic effect of bimetallic NiRu alloy constituents present in the Ni-Ru-Mg-Al solid solution is responsible for the excellent catalytic performance in the reduction of FAL to FOL. The activity remains intact even after six cycles, and the kinetic evaluations show that the reaction shows a zeroth-order dependence with respect to the furfural concentration.