Construction of Au-Pd alloy shells for enhanced catalytic performance toward alkyne semihydrogenation reactions

Xiang Li, Zhenni Wang, Zhaorui Zhang, Guang Yang, Mingshang Jin, Qiang Chen and Yadong Yin

Mater. Horiz., 2017, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C6MH00478D
Received 02 Nov 2016, Accepted 24 Feb 2017
First published online 24 Feb 2017

This communication reports an efficient bimetallic catalyst by incorporating Au atoms to the surface of palladium nanocrystals through a simple solution phase surface alloying process. While retaining the original surface structure of Pd, the surface alloy catalyst shows the highest activity and the best selectivity toward alkyne semihydrogenation reactions in comparison to commercial Pd/C and Lindlar catalyst. This simple surface alloying process could be easily extended to the optimization of commercial Pd/C catalysts to significantly improve their catalytic performance. The surface modification approach proposed in this work not only provides a new direction in engineering efficient metal nanocatalysts for fine chemical industries, but also improves our understanding of the bimetallic nanocrystal surfaces.