Shape control of nickel crystals and catalytic hydrogenation performance of ruthenium-on-Ni crystals

Hierarchical nickel was synthesized by a facile hydrothermal reduction method using hydrazine hydrate as a reducing agent. The morphology of the hierarchical nickel was controlled by changing the hydrothermal temperature and surfactant. Ruthenium supported on hierarchical nickel (Ru/Ni) catalysts were obtained via the galvanic replacement reaction method. The catalytic performance of the Ru/Ni catalysts for benzene hydrogenation was also investigated. The Ru/Ni catalysts can be magnetically recovered after each reaction. The relationship between the catalytic activity and the morphology of the Ru/Ni catalyst was established in this work. The as-obtained hierarchical nickel and Ru/Ni were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high-sensitivity low-energy ion scattering (HS-LEIS) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), SEM-EDS mapping, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques.