A highly active and stable Pd/B-doped carbon catalyst for the hydrogenation of 4-carboxybenzaldehyde

Boron had been introduced into the structure of carbon material (BC), which was used as the support of Pd catalyst for hydrogenation of 4-carboxybenzaldehyde (4-CBA). The physical properties and chemical composition of the support and corresponding catalyst were characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption, Raman spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), element analysis (EA), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), CO-pulse chemisorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results demonstrate that Pd/BC catalyst exhibits a superior activity and good stability due to the more uniform dispersion of Pd nanoparticles, the presence of mesoporous structure and the enhanced interaction between Pd nanoparticles and the support, compared to carbon and N-doped carbon supported Pd catalysts (Pd/C and Pd/NC, respectively).