Palladium doped with boron and phosphorus on activated carbon: a high-performance nanocatalyst for the hydrogenation of alkenes

Abstract

Fabrication of high-performance palladium on activated carbon (Pd/AC) nanocatalysts for hydrogenation of alkenes to reduce the cost of reaction products has always been of interest to researchers and industries. Herein, the purpose was the step-by-step investigation of the simple precipitation-reduction method to determine the best chemicals usable in producing the high-performance 10%Pd/AC nanocatalyst for the hydrogenation of alkenes. Hence, different types of carbon supports, alkaline agents, and reducing agents were selected for this purpose. Catalytic hydrogenation of cinnamic acid to hydrocinnamic acid was used as a well-known standard test for evaluating the activity of the nanocatalysts. The AC prepared by pine wood, H2PdCl4, KHCO3, and NaBH4/NaH2PO2 were the most suitable materials for producing high-performance Pd/AC using the mentioned method. It was specified that activity is increased with the lower amount of oxygenated acidic functional groups on the AC, greater cation radius of the alkaline agent, weaker alkaline agent, and higher reduction power of the reducing agent. NaH2PO2 and especially NaBH4 increase the activity more than other reducing agents because of their high reduction power and adding phosphorus (P) and boron (B) to Pd, respectively. Three nanocatalysts with the most activity were chosen for more investigations by different analyses. The results of these analyses were according to the procedure obtained for their catalytic activity. The reusability test of chosen nanocatalysts indicated that the stability of Pd/AC is increased by doping the Pd with B and especially P. According to the obtained results, Pd nanocatalyst doped with both P and B is strongly recommended for application in alkenes hydrogenation.