Palladium Nanoparticles Immobilized on Nitride Carbon-Coated Mesoporous Tungsten Oxide for Formic Acid Dehydrogenation

Abstract

Taking advantage of a unique coating strategy, palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) were immobilized on a nitride carbon (NC)-coated mesoporous tungsten oxide (WO3) (Pd/NCt@WO3) that had enhanced catalytic behavior for H2 production from formic acid (FA) dehydrogenation. The full characterization results demonstrated that NC was successfully coated on the surface of mesoporous WO3, and the resulting composite NC400@WO3 stabilized small Pd NPs (2-3 nm). Owing to the improved Pd-support interaction and abundant oxygen deficiencies, the target catalyst Pd/NC400@WO3 exhibited good catalytic activity with a turnover frequency of 1225 h-1 under a high nFA/nPd molar ratio of 243 and durability for dehydrogenation of FA at 50 °C. This work may provide romising support for more noble metal catalysts with improved catalytic performance.