Enhancement of Nitrite Reduction Kinetics on Electrospun Pd-Carbon Nanomaterial Catalysts for Water Purification

We report a facile synthesis method for carbon nanofiber (CNF) supported Pd catalysts via one-pot electrospinning and their application for nitrite hydrogenation. A mixture of Pd acetylacetonate (Pd(acac)2), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and nonfunctionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was electrospun and thermally treated to produce Pd/CNF-MWCNT catalysts. The addition of MWCNTs with a mass loading of 1.0-2.5 wt % (to PAN) significantly improved nitrite reduction activity compared to the catalyst without MWCNT addition. The results of CO chemisorption confirmed that the addition of MWCNTs increased Pd exposure on CNFs and hence improved catalytic activity.