LAUSR

Abstract Lignin is the most abundant and renewable resources for production of natural aromatics. In this paper, new bimetallic catalytic system of Ru and Ni supported onto nitrogen-doped activated carbon (Ru-Ni-AC/N) was developed and its performances on hydrogenolysis of lignin model compounds under mild reaction conditions (1.0 MPa, 230 °C, in aqueous) were investigated. The results indicate that Ru-Ni-AC/N was a highly active, selective and stable catalyst for the conversion of lignin model compounds into aromatics, e.g. phenol, benzene and their derivatives. As verified by BET, XRD, HRTEM, XPS, H2-TPR and ICP-MS, the strong synergistic effects between i) Ru and Ni and ii) metals and N-groups were contributed to its excellent aromatics selectivity. What’s more, the introduction of electron rich N atoms on AC was beneficial to the stabilization of metal particles, which greatly enhanced the durability of the catalyst.