Radio frequency (RF)
induction heating was compared to conventional
thermal heating for the hydrogenation of oleic acid to stearic acid.
The RF reaction demonstrated decreased coke accumulation and increased
product selectivity at comparable temperatures over mesoporous Fe
3
O
4
catalysts composed of 28–32 nm diameter
nanoparticles. The Fe
3
O
4
supports were decorated
with Pd and Pt active sites and served as the local heat generators
when subjected to an alternating magnetic field. For hydrogenation
over Pd/Fe
3
O
4
, both heating methods gave similar
liquid product selectivities, but thermogravimetric analysis–differential
scanning calorimetry measurements showed no coke accumulation for
the RF-heated catalyst
versus
6.5 wt % for the conventionally
heated catalyst. A different trend emerged when hydrogenation over
Pt/Fe
3
O
4
was performed. Compared to conventional
heating, the RF increased the selectivity to stearic acid by an additional
15%. Based on these results, RF heating acting upon a magnetically
susceptible nanoparticle catalyst would also be expected to positively
impact systems with high coking rates, for example, nonoxidative dehydrogenations.