Volcano-Curves for Dehydrogenation of 2-Propanol and Hydrogenation of Nitrobenzene by SiO2-Supported Metal Nanoparticles Catalysts As Described in Terms of a d-Band Model

Abstract

To confirm whether the activity trends in multistep organic reactions can be understood in terms of the Hammer–Norskov d-band model in combination with the linear energy relations, we studied correlations between the reaction rates for dehydrogenation and hydrogenation reactions and the position of the d-band center (ed) relative to the Fermi energy (EF), the ed – EF value, of various metal catalysts. SiO2-supported metal (M = Ag, Cu, Pt, Ir, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ni, and Co) catalysts with the same metal loading (5 wt %) and similar metal particle size (8.9–11.7 nm) were prepared. The dehydrogenation of adsorbed 2-propanol in a flow of He and the hydrogenation of adsorbed nitrobenzene in a flow of H2 were tested as model reactions of organic reactions on the metal surface. As a test reaction of H2 dissociation on the surface, SiOH/SiOD exchange on the M/SiO2 catalysts in a flow of D2 is carried out. The liquid phase hydrogenation of nitrobenzene under 3.0 MPa of H2 is adopted as an organic reaction under realistic...