Synergistic catalysis between Pd and Fe in gas phase hydrodeoxygenation of m -cresol

Yongchun Hong, He Zhang, Junming Sun, Karim M. Ayman, Alyssa J.R. Hensley, Meng Gu, Mark H. Engelhard, Jean Sabin McEwen, Yong Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

182 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this work, a series of Pd/Fe2O3 catalysts were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of m-cresol. It was found that the addition of Pd remarkably promotes the catalytic activity of Fe while the product distributions resemble that of monometallic Fe catalyst, showing high selectivity toward the production of toluene (C-O cleavage without saturation of aromatic ring and C-C cleavage). Reduced catalysts featured with Pd patches on the top of reduced Fe nanoparticle surface, and the interaction between Pd and Fe, was further confirmed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and X-ray absorption near edge fine structure (XANES). A possible mechanism, including Pd assisted H2 dissociation and Pd facilitated stabilization of the metallic Fe surface as well as Pd enhanced product desorption, is proposed to be responsible for the high activity and HDO selectivity in Pd-Fe catalysts. The synergic catalysis derived from Pd-Fe interaction found in this work was proved to be applicable to other precious metal promoted Fe catalysts, providing a promising strategy for future design of highly active and selective HDO catalysts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3335-3345
Number of pages11
JournalACS Catalysis
Volume4
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 3 Oct 2014

Keywords

  • H sticking probability
  • bimetallic catalysis
  • biomass conversion
  • hydrodeoxygenation
  • iron catalyst
  • noble metal catalysis
  • synergistic effects

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