Bimetallic Pt-Cu catalysts for glycerol oxidation with oxygen in a base-free aqueous solution

A series of carbon supported bimetallic Pt-Cu catalysts were prepared and used for glycerol oxidation with oxygen in a base-free aqueous solution. It was found that bimetallic PtCu/C was more active than monometallic Pt/C towards selective oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid. The selectivity of free glyceric acid reached 70.8% at an 86.2% conversion of glycerol over 5Pt-Cu/C. Highly dispersed bimetallic Pt-Cu nanoparticles with small particle size in dominant alloyed phase of PtCu(3) were confirmed by XRD and TEM in the bimetallic Pt-Cu/C catalyst, which is proposed to contribute to the improved performance. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.