Phosphate‐Mediated Immobilization of High‐Performance AuPd Nanoparticles for Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid at Room Temperature

Abstract

AbstractDehydrogenation of formic acid (FA) is a promising alternative to fossil fuels, to provide clean energy for the future energy economy. The synthesis of highly active catalysts for FA dehydrogenation at room temperature has attracted a lot of attention. Herein, for the first time, highly active aurum–palladium nanoparticles (AuPd NPs) immobilized on nitrogen (N)‐doped porous carbon are fabricated through a phosphate‐mediation approach. The N‐doped carbon anchored with phosphate, which can be removed in alkaline solution during the reduction process of metal ions, shows an enhanced performance of absorbing and dispersion of both Au and Pd ions, which is a key to the synthesis of highly dispersed ultrafine AuPd NPs. The as‐prepared catalyst (designated as Au2Pd3@(P)N‐C) exhibits an extraordinarily high turnover frequency of 5400 h−1 and a 100% H2 selectivity for FA dehydrogenation at 30 °C. This phosphate‐mediation approach provides a new way to fabricate highly active metal NPs for catalytic application, pushing heterogeneous catalysts forward for practical usage in energy storage and conversion.