Preparation of Highly Dispersed Pd-Supported Catalysts for Hydrogenation Processes by Microemulsion Method

Abstract

Preparation of nano-dispersed palladium particles on alumina support is described here using reverse microemulsion (water-in-oil) method. This synthesis protocol leads to a narrow Pd particle size distribution with particles of average size, which were significantly smaller compared to those prepared by classical impregnation method. It is shown that the particle size could be effectively controlled both by the microemulsion chemical composition such as concentration of PdCl 2 and the water/surfactant molar ratio and by the catalyst reduction process. Under the optimal reaction conditions, a Pd/Al 2 O 3 catalyst with a homogeneous distribution of Pd particles of average size ~2.2 nm was obtained.