Enhanced Catalytic Activity of PdNi Dilute Nanoalloy for Selective Phenylacetylene Hydrogenation

Coordination of identical metals has significant impact on catalytic activity and selectivity of heterogeneous catalyst. Here, we show that the selectivity for hydrogenation of Pd can be manipulated by altering the coordinate environment. PdNi/SiO2 dilute alloy nanocatalysts have been synthesized at room temperature, which show effectively the unparalleled catalytic performance (about 100% selectivity to styrene) for phenylacetylene hydrogenation at 30 °C with full conversion. Structural and surface analyses show that the improvement in dispersion of the Pd active sites and the changed electronic structure of Pd contribute the catalytic performance significantly. This work is an important step towards developing highly active hydrogenation catalysts by forming dilute alloys.