With the ultimate goal of producing robust catalysts for the one-pot conversion of cellulose to sorbitol, a number of solid acids were first investigated for the hydrolysis of cellobiose (model compound). In particular, acid functionalization, catalyst recyclability and hydrothermal stability were evaluated for SBA-15. In the second part of the work, the impregnation of Ru nanoparticles (RuNPs) on the Amberlyst 15 (A15) for the preparation of the bi-functional catalyst 3% RuNPs/A15 for the one-pot conversion of cellobiose into sorbitol is described. The performances of the bi-functional catalyst, 5% Ru/C and the physical mixture of the 5% Ru/C and A15 were evaluated for the conversion of cellobiose to sorbitol. When the bi-functional catalyst was employed, 81% yield of sorbitol was obtained after 5 h of reaction. In contrast, the best result with the physical mixture gave less than 53% yield of sorbitol after 5 h, indicating that the bi-functionality of the 3% RuNPs/Amberlyst 15 catalyst plays a major role in this reaction. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.