Intensification of a hydrogenation catalyst activity by nanosecond pulsed discharge treatment

© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim In this work, we report on a Johnson Matthey-developed palladium (Pd)-based catalyst activity enhancement using nanosecond pulsed discharge treatment. The impact of treatment energy via pulse voltage, pulse frequency, and treatment time individual variation on acetylene-to-ethylene hydrogenation reaction performance is investigated. Up to 11.2% increase in C 2 H 2 conversion is attained after plasma treatment at specific treatment energy of 5340 J g cat−1 , while C 2 H 4 selectivity remains constant. To elucidate the effect of plasma on catalyst activity, characterization with SEM, BET, CO chemisorption, ICP-MS, and XRD is carried out. C 2 H 2 conversion increase is due to the higher active metal surface area attained after the plasma treatment. Other than the improved Pd surface area, not significant increase in specific surface area is observed, while even at high energy inputs no catalyst destruction occurs, as neither metal losses, nor phase changes are induced during plasma treatment.

Publication year:2018

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CSS-citation score:1

Authors:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Accessibility:Open