Fabrication and catalytic properties of palladium nanoparticles deposited on a silanized asymmetric ceramic support

We developed an improved fabrication technique for the deposition of palladium nanoparticles on a ceramic membrane support in which the support surface was silanized with amino-functional silane. In the present work, the ceramic membrane support was used for catalyst immobilization only. The as-fabricated Pd-loaded ceramic membrane support was extensively characterized by ICP emission spectroscopy, XRD, FESEM, EDS, XPS, HRTEM, and TPR, and its catalytic properties were tested in the liquid-phase hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol. A comparative study was also made with palladium nanoparticles deposited on the ceramic membrane support without silanization. Higher catalytic activity and stability were observed for the palladium nanoparticles deposited on the surface-silanized ceramic membrane support. The reason proposed for the higher catalytic activity is the higher dispersion of the palladium nanoparticles. The palladium nanoparticles were loaded onto the surface-silanized ceramic membrane support with chemical bonds; thus, it was not easy for the palladium nanoparticles to detach from the silanized membrane support, and a superior catalytic stability could be obtained.