The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using platinum-promoted gold-palladium catalysts.
The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide offers a potentially green route to the production of this important commodity chemical. Early studies showed that Pd is a suitable catalyst, but recent work indicated that the addition of Au enhances the activity and selectivity significantly. The addition of a third metal using impregnation as a facile preparation method was thus investigated. The addition of a small amount of Pt to a CeO2-supported AuPd (weight ratio of 1:1) catalyst significantly enhanced the activity in the direct synthesis of H2O2 and decreased the non-desired over-hydrogenation and decomposition reactions. The addition of Pt to the AuPd nanoparticles influenced the surface composition, thus leading to the marked effects that were observed on the catalytic formation of hydrogen peroxide. In addition, an experimental approach that can help to identify the optimal nominal ternary alloy compositions for this reaction is demonstrated.
Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT (UK). edwardsjk@cf.ac.uk.
Jennifer K
JK
Edwards
James
J
Pritchard
Li
L
Lu
Marco
M
Piccinini
Greg
G
Shaw
Albert F
AF
Carley
David J
DJ
Morgan
Christopher J
CJ
Kiely
Graham J
GJ
Hutchings
alloys; hydrogen peroxide; hydrogenation; nanoparticles; supported catalysts