Fast Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid over Palladium Nanoparticles Immobilized in Nitrogen-Doped Hierarchically Porous Carbon

In this work, a hierarchically porous carbon was prepared from carbonization of a nitrogen-containing metal–organic framework, followed by activation under ultrasonication in aqueous potassium hydroxide (aq KOH). The activated carbon was applied as a support for immobilizing ultrafine palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (1.1 ± 0.2 nm). As a result, the as-prepared Pd nanoparticles on N-doped porous carbon with both micro- and mesoporosity exhibit an excellent activity for the dehydrogenation of formic acid, showing a high turnover frequency (TOF, 14 400 h–1) at 60 °C. This activation approach of carbon opens an avenue for the syntheses of highly active supported ultrafine metal NPs for catalysis.