Deactivation and regeneration of RuO2·xH2O/CNT catalyst for aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol

The reusability of hydrous ruthenium(IV) dioxide nanoparticles supported by carbon nanotubes (RuO2·xH2O/CNT) was investigated in aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol in toluene. The used catalyst was characterized by multiple techniques, including FT-IR, HRTEM, XPS and TGA. RuO2·xH2O/CNT deactivated mainly due to the accumulation of excess water as coproduct in weakly polar organic solvent. It was found that the used catalyst can be easily regenerated within a hot water bath, which effectively eliminates the excess water from the catalyst.