Reduced graphene oxide modified with noble metal nanoparticles for formic acid dehydrogenation

This work presents a new, simple and accessible method to prepare PdAu alloyed nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide (PdAu/rGO) with Pd and Au concentrations of 7.5 and 2.5 wt%, respectively. The prepared composite exhibits superior activity, selectivity and stability for the FA decomposition reaction in comparison to Pd/rGO (Pd 10 wt%) prepared also by a similar procedure. The Au presence influences the entire process of nanoparticles formation, favors the formation of smaller NPs, and prevents their agglomeration, with direct consequences on their catalytic properties. The performance of the catalysts towards FA decomposition was investigated from formic acid (FA) and formic acid (FA) / sodium formate (SF) aqueous solutions at various temperatures. The results indicated that the decomposition reaction catalyzed by bimetallic PdAu/rGO catalyst has an activation energy of 13.4 kJ.mol(-1), which is two times smaller than the one in the reaction catalyzed by Pd/rGO.