Pd nanoparticles supported on amine-functionalized SBA-15 for the selective hydrogenation of phenol

Abstract In this paper, a stable Pd/NH2-SBA-15 catalyst was prepared by an ammonia evaporation method using amino-functionalized SBA-15 as support. Pd/NH2-SBA-15 showed excellent catalytic performance in the selective hydrogenation of phenol to produce cyclohexanone. Furthermore, this Pd/NH2-SBA-15 catalyst kept the conversion of phenol and selectivity of cyclohexanone both over 90 % even after 10 runs, much better than Pd/SBA-15 and the previously reported Pd-based catalysts, demonstrating the benefit of amine functionalization on the activity of supported Pd nanoparticles. TEM and XPS results indicate that small Pd particles were highly dispersed on the NH2-SBA-15 support and a stronger interaction occurred between the active Pd particles and the amine functionalized SBA-15 support, which could effectively inhibit the agglomeration of the active Pd particles during the reaction and then improve the stability of this catalyst.