Investigation of the Catalytic Performance of Pd/CNFs for Hydrogen Evolution from Additive-Free Formic Acid Decomposition

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Davide Motta¹  Nikolaos Dimitratos¹  Ceri Hammond¹  Alberto Roldan¹  Felipe Sanchez¹  Stefania Albonetti²  Ludovica Bocelli²  Alberto Villa³ 

[1] Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK;Dipartimento di Chimica Industriale “Toso Montanari”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 4, 40136, Bologna, Italy;Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy;

关键词: H2 production;    formic acid decomposition;    green chemistry;    renewable feedstock;    Pd nanoparticles;    carbon nanofibers;   

DOI  :  10.3390/c4020026

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In recent years, research efforts have focused on the development of safe and efficient H2 generation/storage materials toward a fuel-cell-based H2 economy as a long-term solution in the near future. Herein, we report the development of Pd nanoparticles supported on carbon nanofibers (CNFs) via sol-immobilisation and impregnation techniques. Thorough characterisation has been carried out by means of XRD, XPS, SEM-EDX, TEM, and BET. The catalysts have been evaluated for the catalytic decomposition of formic acid (HCOOH), which has been identified as a safe and convenient H2 carrier under mild conditions. The influence of preparation method was investigated and catalysts prepared by the sol-immobilisation method showed higher catalytic performance (PdSI/CNF) than their analogues prepared by the impregnation method (PdIMP/CNF). A high turnover frequency (TOF) of 979 h−1 for PdSI/CNF and high selectivity (>99.99%) was obtained at 30 °C for the additive-free formic acid decomposition. Comparison with a Pd/AC (activated charcoal) catalyst synthesised with sol-immobilisation method using as a support activated charcoal (AC) showed an increase of catalytic activity by a factor of four, demonstrating the improved performance by choosing CNFs as the preferred choice of support for the deposition of preformed colloidal Pd nanoparticles.

【 授权许可】

Unknown