Effect of Halide and Acid Additives on the Direct Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide using Supported Gold-Palladium Catalysts

The effect of halide and acid addition on the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide is studied for magnesium oxide- and carbon-supported bimetallic gold-palladium catalysts. The addition of acids decreases the hydrogenation/decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, and the effect is particularly pronounced for the magnesium oxide-supported catalysts whilst for carbon-supported catalysts the pH requires close control to optimize hydrogen peroxide synthesis. The addition of bromide leads to a marked decrease in the hydrogenation/decomposition of hydrogen peroxide with either catalyst. These effects are discussed in terms of the structure of the gold-palladium alloy nanoparticles and the isoelectric point of the support. We conclude that with the highly active carbon-supported gold-palladium catalysts these additives are not required and that therefore this system presents the potential for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide to be operated using green process technology.