C, N Co-Decorated Alumina-Supported Au Nanoparticles: Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Selective Hydrogenation of Acetylene

Abstract

The modifications of support for the dispersion and immobilization of gold nanoparticles were examined for the selective hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene. The catalyst, denoted as Au/CNA, was prepared by the carbonization of C and N atom-containing organic precursors on Al2O3, which were subsequently used as supports for gold nanoparticles. The TOF value of Au/CNA was five times higher than that of Au/Al2O3 at 250 °C. The carbonization modification of Al2O3 support without N species showed almost no change in catalytic activity. Therefore, the improved catalytic performance of Au/CNA is related to the interactions of the N species on the CNA support with nano-gold particles. From the XPS analysis, electron transfer between gold and C, N co-doped species may play an important role in the high levels of Au active site utilization. This study may provide new avenues for the construction of organic/inorganic composite materials for efficient catalytic hydrogenation applications.