Pd nanoparticles supported on amine-functionalized SBA-15 for the selective hydrogenation of phenol

In this paper, a stable Pd/NH2-SBA-15 catalyst was prepared by an ammonia evaporation method using amino-functionalized SBA-15 as support. Pd/NH2-SBA-15 showed excellent catalytic performance in the selective hydrogenation of phenol to produce cyclohexanone. Furthermore, this Pd/NH2-SBA-15 catalyst kept the conversion of phenol and selectivity of cyclohexanone both over 90 % even after 10 runs, much better than Pd/SBA-15 and the previously reported Pd-based catalysts, demonstrating the benefit of amine functionalization on the activity of supported Pd nanoparticles. TEM and XPS results indicate that small Pd particles were highly dispersed on the NH2-SBA-15 support and a stronger interaction occurred between the active Pd particles and the amine functionalized SBA-15 support, which could effectively inhibit the agglomeration of the active Pd particles during the reaction and then improve the stability of this catalyst.

Automated summary

In this study, a stable Pd/NH2-SBA-15 catalyst was prepared using an ammonia evaporation method with amino-functionalized SBA-15 support. This catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance and stability in the selective hydrogenation of phenol to produce cyclohexanone, attributed to the enhanced activity of supported Pd nanoparticles by amine functionalization. TEM and XPS results confirmed the strong interaction between Pd particles and the amine-functionalized SBA-15 support, inhibiting particle agglomeration and improving catalyst stability during the reaction process.