Preparation of Palladium Catalysts by Pretreatment Steps in Electroless Plating toward Partial Oxidation of Methanol with Steam Reforming

A previously proposed method for depositing Ag nanoparticles on silica particles was extended to the preparation of ZnO-supported Pd (Pd/ZnO) catalysts. The method presented in this work consists of two steps: (1) Sn2+ ions are adsorbed on the surfaces of ZnO particles, and (2) Pd2+ ions added are reduced by oxidization of Sn2+ to Sn4+ and simultaneously adsorbed on the surface. TEM observations revealed that Pd nanoparticles. with an average size of 2-3 nm were formed on the 20 nm ZnO particles. The Pd nanoparticles were transformed into a Pd-Zn alloy by partial oxidation and steam reforming of methanol, and consequently the Pd/ZnO attained CH3OH conversion efficiencies of 35-50% at reaction temperatures of 310-370 degrees C.