Ru embedded into N-Doped Porous Carbon Nanosheets as a Robust Catalyst for Efficient Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone

Porous carbon supported metal catalyst with embedded structure has witnessed the success in enhancing catalyst stability; however, the development of a simple yet efficient strategy to fabricate catalyst with controllable embedding degree is still a great challenge. Herein, we report a facile impregnation-coating-pyrolysis (ICP) strategy to fabricate ultrafine Ru nanoparticles embedded into N-doped porous carbon nanosheets (Ru@CN). Both the dispersion and exposure degree of Ru nanoparticles in Ru@CN catalyst could be efficient controlled through regulating the coating time of carbon precursors. As expected, the obtained Ru@CN catalyst exhibited an acid resistance for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid in an aqueous phase. Specifically, the spent Ru@CN catalyst shows a significant enhancement in catalytic activity compared with fresh one because the fact that part of Ru active sites confined inside carbon support could be liberated during the reaction process. We anticipate that this ICP strategy may provide a new approach to fabricate the embedded catalyst with high hydrothermal stability.