30 wt.%Co/SBA-15 catalysts with different ruthenium contents (0.05-0.5 wt.%) were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and characterized by diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy, N-2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffractometry, temperature-programmed reduction and H-2 desorption, oxygen titration as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The addition of a small amount of Ru promoter to CO/SBA-15 shifted the reduction temperature of both steps (Co3O4-CoO and CoO-Co-0) to lower temperatures and suppressed the formation of Co2+ species. After reduction, ruthenium atoms were encapsulated partially with cobalt cluster. There was no strong electronic interaction between metal cobalt and ruthenium, however, hydrogen spillover from ruthenium to cobalt oxide clusters occurred. With increasing ruthenium content, catalyst reducibility increased and the surface was enriched in cobalt atoms. Moreover, the peak intensities of both the linear and bridge types CO adsorption increased with the increase of ruthenium content, enhancing the catalytic activity on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.