Improvement of imidazolium-based ionic liquids on the activity of ruthenium catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination.

[Display omitted] • Ru10%[BMIM]BF 4 /AC catalyst exhibits high activity for acetylene hydrochlorination. • Ru10%[BMIM]BF 4 /AC catalyst has favorable anti-coking deposition property. • Ru species interact with [BMIM]BF 4 and the oxygen-containing functional groups on the AC support. Imidazolium-based Ionic Liquids (IBILs) were employed to synthesize Ru-based catalysts using the Supported Ionic Liquid Phase (SILP) technique for acetylene (C 2 H 2) hydrochlorination, combining the characterizations of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N 2 adsorption-desorption (BET), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), etc. The optimal Ru10%[BMIM]BF 4 /AC catalyst achieved the C 2 H 2 conversion of 98.9% and the selectivity to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) of 99.8% under the temperature of 170 °C and the C 2 H 2 gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 180 h−1. Further, other IBILs with different anions were chosen to fabricate Ru-based catalysts, and the catalysts showed high activity and selectivity similar with Ru10%[BMIM]BF 4 /AC catalyst. It is demonstrated that IBILs additives can significantly improve the dispersion of ruthenium species and prevent the appearance of coke deposition owing to the interactions between Ru species and [BMIM]BF 4. Moreover, the oxygen-containing functional groups on the carbon support are associated with the interactions among Ru species and [BMIM]BF 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]