Interfacial Synergy of PtPd Nanoparticles Dispersed on Amine-Modified ZrSBA-15 in Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Ammonia Borane and Reduction of <i>p</i>-Nitrophenol

Abstract

In this work, a series of amine-modified ZrSBA-15-supported PtPd bimetallic catalysts with different Pt/Pd ratios were prepared and characterized by a variety of means. Introducing amino groups on the surface of ZrSBA-15 is beneficial for achieving high dispersion of PtPd nanoparticles (NPs) and can effectively prevent the overgrowth of PtPd NPs during the preparation process. The resulting hybrid catalysts exhibit very high catalytic activity and stability for H2 generation from aqueous ammonia borane (AB) and can also efficiently catalyze the reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol using AB as the hydrogen source. Among them, the catalyst with the Pt/Pd ratio of 85/15 shows the highest activity for AB dehydrogenation under ambient condition, whereas the catalyst with the Pt/Pd ratio of 50/50 exhibits the highest efficiency for the reduction of p-nitrophenol with AB. These results suggest that highly efficient interface active sites could be constructed by optimizing the composition of bimetallic PtPd NPs and changing the chemical surrounding of mesoporous ZrSBA-15, which demonstrate effective synergistic catalysis for AB dehydrogenation and p-nitrophenol reduction.