One-Pot deposition of palladium on hybrid TiO2 nanoparticles

One-pot deposition of Pd onto TiO2 has been achieved by direct impregnation in excess of Na2PdCl4 contacted with citrate-functionalized TiO2 support initially obtained by sol-gel process techniques using Ti((OPr)-Pr-i)(4) and citric acid. Citrate groups act as functional moieties able to directly reduce the Pd salt avoiding any further reducing treatment. Various titanium to citrate (Ti/CA) ratios (20, 50, and 100) were used to prepare the hybrid TiO2 support in order to study the effect of citrate on the final catalytic properties of Pd/TiO2 catalysts. Characterizations were performed using N-2 adsorption-desorption, ICP-AES, FTIR, XRD, XPS, and TEM. The as-obtained Pd/TiO2 catalysts were tested in the selective hydrogenation (HYD) of cinnamaldehyde. Using citrate-functionalized TiO2 support increases both the activity and the selectivity to saturated alcohol.