Investigation of the thiotolerance of metallic ruthenium nanoparticles: A XAS study

In situ XAS at the Ru K edge was used to investigate the thiotolerance of metallic ruthenium supported on partially dealuminated acidic Y zeolite (Ru°/HYd, obtained by reduction at 673 K of Ru(NH3)63+/HYd). After 3 h at 523 K under 350 ppm H2S in H2 the formation of 1.9 Ru–S bond per Ru atoms is observed without modification of the core of the metallic particles (the number of Ru neighbors is unchanged). These results are compared to those obtained after reductive sulfidation of the same sample in order to understand the origin of the high hydrogenation activity of metallic ruthenium in the presence of H2S.