Switching Off Hydrogen Peroxide Hydrogenation in the Direct Synthesis Process
Jennifer K. Edwards,1
Benjamin Solsona,1
Edwin Ntainjua N,1
Albert F. Carley,1
Andrew A. Herzing,2,3
Christopher J. Kiely,3
Graham J. Hutchings1*
Hydrogen peroxide (H
2O
2) is an important disinfectant and bleach
and is currently manufactured from an indirect process involving
sequential hydrogenation/oxidation of anthaquinones. However,
a direct process in which H
2 and O
2 are reacted would be preferable.
Unfortunately, catalysts for the direct synthesis of H
2O
2 are
also effective for its subsequent decomposition, and this has
limited their development. We show that acid pretreatment of
a carbon support for gold-palladium alloy catalysts switches
off the decomposition of H
2O
2. This treatment decreases the
size of the alloy nanoparticles, and these smaller nanoparticles
presumably decorate and inhibit the sites for the decomposition
reaction. Hence, when used in the direct synthesis of H
2O
2,
the acid-pretreated catalysts give high yields of H
2O
2 with
hydrogen selectivities greater than 95%.
2 National Institute of Standards and Technology, Surface and Microanalysis Science Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Mailstop 8371, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–8371, USA.
3 Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Lehigh University, 5 East Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18015-–3195, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hutch{at}cardiff.ac.uk
