Effect of sodium propionate as a stabilizer on the catalytic activity of Pt/C catalysts for d-glucose hydrogenation

Abstract

Abstract High dispersion of Pt on carbon supports is expected to provide improved catalytic performance. In this study, Pt/C catalysts have been prepared by a deposition–precipitation method with different concentrations of sodium propionate (SP) as a stabilizer. Carbon black (CB), multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been used as catalyst supports. The dispersion and particle size of Pt have been shown to depend on the type of carbon support and the concentration of SP. The addition of SP can increase the ionic strength and thus improve the dispersion of Pt via the formation of Pt complexes, which prevents the aggregation of Pt nanoparticles. The activities of the prepared catalysts for d -glucose hydrogenation have been investigated. Both d -glucose conversion and d -sorbitol selectivity have been found to increase with increased Pt dispersion. The Pt/CB_SP0.5 catalyst with the highest Pt dispersion (59 %) has been shown to exhibit the best catalytic performance. Further investigations revealed that the product distribution is strongly affected by the surface acidity and the reaction conditions. Thus, SP can be used as a stabilizer to obtain highly dispersed Pt/C catalysts with good d -glucose conversion and d -sorbitol selectivity.