Layered Pd oxide on PdSn nanowires for boosting direct H2O2 synthesis

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 6072 - 10
• Main Authors: Li, Hong-chao, Wan, Qiang, Du, Congcong, Zhao, Jiafei, Li, Fumin, Zhang, Ying, Zheng, Yanping, Chen, Mingshu, Zhang, Kelvin H. L., Huang, Jianyu, Fu, Gang, Lin, Sen, Huang, Xiaoqing, Xiong, Haifeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14.10.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/638/77/884; 639/638/77/885; 639/638/77/887; Adsorption; Catalysts; Chemical synthesis; Displays; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogen peroxide; Industrial applications; multidisciplinary; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Palladium; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Selectivity
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33757-0

Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) has the wide range of applications in industry and living life. However, the development of the efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the direct H 2 O 2 synthesis (DHS) from H 2 and O 2 remains a formidable challenge because of the low H 2 O 2 producibility. Herein, we develop a two-step approach to prepare PdSn nanowire catalysts, which comprises Pd oxide layered on PdSn nanowires (Pd L /PdSn-NW). The Pd L /PdSn-NW displays superior reactivity in the DHS at zero Celcius, presenting the H 2 O 2 producibility of 528 mol kg cat −1 ·h −1 and H 2 O 2 selectivity of >95%. A layer of Pd oxide on the PdSn nanowire generates bi-coordinated Pd, leading to the different adsorption behaviors of O 2 , H 2 and H 2 O 2 on the Pd L /PdSn-NW. Furthermore, the weak adsorption of H 2 O 2 on the Pd L /PdSn-NW contributes to the low activation energy and high H 2 O 2 producibility. This surface engineering approach, depositing metal layer on metal nanowires, provides a new insight in the rational designing of efficient catalyst for DHS. The development of the efficient catalyst in the direct H2O2 synthesis (DHS) from H2 and O2 remains a formidable challenge. Here, the authors develop a two-step approach to prepare a layer of Pd oxide on PdSn nanowires which displays superior reactivity in the DHS at zero Celcius.