Photochemical route for synthesizing atomically dispersed palladium catalysts

Atomically dispersed noble metal catalysts often exhibit high catalytic performances, but the metal loading density must be kept low (usually below 0.5%) to avoid the formation of metal nanoparticles through sintering. We report a photochemical strategy to fabricate a stable atomically dispersed palladium-titanium oxide catalyst (Pd1/TiO2) on ethylene glycolate (EG)-stabilized ultrathin TiO2 nanosheets containing Pd up to 1.5%. The Pd1/TiO2 catalyst exhibited high catalytic activity in hydrogenation of C=C bonds, exceeding that of surface Pd atoms on commercial Pd catalysts by a factor of 9. No decay in the activity was observed for 20 cycles. More important, the Pd1/TiO2-EG system could activate H2 in a…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 21420102001, 21573178, 21333008, 21373167, 21133004, 21131005, 21390390
• MO
  Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China

  Award: 2015CB932303
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada