Selective oxidation of glycerol is a hot topic.Increased biodiesel production has led to glycerol oxidation over Au- and Pt-based catalysts being widely studied.However,Pt catalysts suffer from deactivation because of weak metal-support interactions.In this study,multi-walled carbon nanotube(MWCNTs)-pillared nitrogen-doped graphene(NG) was prepared by direct pyrolysis of melamine on MWCNTs,and the synthesized NG-MWCNT composite was used as the support for Pt.Characterization results showed that the surface area(173 m^2/g) and pore volume of the NG-MWCNT composite were greater than those of bare MWCNTs and the separated melamine pyrolysis product(CH_x).Pt(1.4±0.4 nm) dispersion on the NG-MWCNTs was favorable and the Pt/NG-MWCNT catalyst was highly active and selective in the oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid(GLYA) in base-free aqueous solution.For example,the conversion of glycerol reached 64.4% with a GLYA selectivity of 81.0%,whereas the conversions of glycerol over Pt/MWCNTs and Pt/CN_x were 29.0% and 31.6%,respectively.The unique catalytic activity of the Pt/NG-MWCNTs is attributed to well-dispersed Pt clusters on the NG-MWCNTs and the electron-donating effect of the nitrogen dopant in the NG-MWCNTs.
A series of Pd catalysts were prepared on different supports(Fe2O3,SiO2,ZnO,MgO,Al2O3,carbon,and Amberlyst-45) and used in the selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone in water.The Amberlyst-45 supported Pd catalyst(Pd/A-45) was highly active and selective under mild conditions(40-100 ℃,0.2-1 MPa),giving a selectivity of cyclohexanone higher than 89%even at complete conversion of phenol.Experiments with different Pd loadings(or different particle sizes) confirmed that the formation of cyclohexanone was a structure sensitive reaction,and Pd particles of12-14 nm on Amberlyst-45 gave better selectivity and stability.