Confined preparation of ultrafine NiB amorphous alloys for hydrogenation

Abstract

How to control the size distribution and morphology of amorphous alloy is of vital importance in improving their catalytic performance. In this work, uniform and ultrafine NiB amorphous alloy catalysts were prepared by using a hydrogelator, 2,4-(3,4-dichlorobenzylidene)-d-sorbitol, as growth controller as well as PEG800 and tannin for co-additives, which exhibit excellent performance toward the selective hydrogenation of cinnamic acid into hydrocinnamic acid. TEM images indicated the addition of PEG800 and tannin affected the self-assembly of gelator from large aggregates into small assemblies and then affected the morphology of NiB catalysts, leading to enhancement of catalytic activity and stability.