Novel synthesis of Pd nanoparticles for hydrogenation of biomass-derived platform chemicals showing enhanced catalytic performance

Robust Pd nanoparticles were novel and successfully synthesized on the gamma-Al2O3 support by a simple and ecofriendly route through the assistance of CO2. The unsupported and supported Pd nanoparticles were initially characterized with a combination of several techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersion X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The face-centered cubic Pd nanoparticles with uniform dispersion were successfully achieved with the Pd loading ranging from 1 wt% to 5 wt%. The resulting Pd nanoparticles (Pd/Al2O3) catalysts were found to be efficient and versatile for the hydrogenation of biomass-derived platform chemicals furfural and levulinic acid under very mild conditions, respectively, showing enhanced catalytic performance.