Ethylene glycol-assisted formaldehyde reduction of styrene-divinylbenzene loaded with Pt as an efficient catalyst for liquid-phase hydrogen isotopes catalytic exchange

Pt/SDB is one of the promising catalysts used in liquid-phase catalytic exchange (LPCE) reaction to treat the tritium-containing wastewater produced by nuclear power generation. Mesoporous polystyrene-divinylbenzene (SDB) was prepared by suspension polymerization. With ethylene glycol and formaldehyde as reducing agents, a mild reduction method was developed to prepare the SDB-supported platinum (Pt) active particles, which was given as Pt/SDB-EG-PA. The structural morphology and catalytic activity were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption desorption, and hydrogen-water catalytic exchange experiments. The results show that the Pt/SDB-EG-PA hydrophobic catalyst has outstanding performance and excellent catalytic activity: The average particle size of platinum nanoparticles is about 2.5 nm, the proportion of Pt⁰ components is 61.5%, and the catalytic exchange column efficiency reaches about 82.0% and remains stable within 160 min. This study provides a new strategy for the preparation of Pt/SDB hydrophobic catalysts by low temperature reduction.