Electrospinning of palladium/silica nanofibers for catalyst applications
Abstract
Supported catalysts are an increasingly popular research area because supported catalysts are highly efficient and the catalyst particles can be recovered. In this study, a new silica-supported palladium (Pd/SiO2) nanofiber catalyst was developed. Pd/SiO2 nanofibers were prepared by the electrospinning of a solution mixture of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), TEOS gel, and PdCl2 nanoparticles, followed by the calcination of PdCl2/PVP/TEOS nanofibers at a high temperature and the reduction of PdO/SiO2 nanofibers in a H2 atmosphere. The results showed that the prepared Pd/SiO2 nanofibers had an average diameter of 500 nm. Pd nanoparticles with a diameter of 20–30 nm were uniformly dispersed on the surface of SiO2 nanofibers. The composite nanofibers had high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area. The hydrogenation reaction for acrylic acid showed that the hydrogenation efficiency was 93.48% in the presence of 0.1 g of Pd/SiO2 nanofibers. These nanofibers could be easily recycled. These features make the Pd/SiO2 nanofibers promising in a wide range of applications in the catalyst industry.