Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid over Ultrafine Pd Particles Immobilized on Amine-Functionalized Silicon Carbide

Abstract

As an organic material with a high hydrogen storage density, formic acid is a liquid hydrogen carrier with broad research prospects. Designing highly efficient and selective dehydrogenation catalysts is key to realizing the application of formic acid dehydrogenation. In this article, ultrafine Pd particles were attached to aminated mesoporous SiC using impregnation and chemical reduction methods, providing a large number of active sites for the dissociation of HCOO*. Compared with α-SiC, β-SiC performs better in formic acid dehydrogenation. Pd@β-SiC(APTES + CIT) exhibits excellent catalytic performance for formic acid dehydrogenation. At 333 K, the initial turnover frequency (TOF_initial) reaches 9580 h^–1, which is 1.68 times that of Pd@α-SiC(APTES + CIT). Density functional theory (DFT) revealed the mechanism by which Pd@SiC decomposed formic acid, demonstrating that Pd@β-SiC was more inclined to decompose formic acid. This study provides a new idea for the design of formic acid dehydrogenation catalysts.