Carbon Nitride Supported Palladium Catalyzed Decomposition Of Formic Acid And Hydrogenation Of Nitro Compound

In a Mott-Schottky catalyst, the idea of enhancing the noble metalnanoparticle’s catalytic activity by adjusting its electronic structure isrealized through the formation of the rectifying contact between thenanoparticle and its support. The catalyst is composed of Pd nanoparticlesand mesoporous carbon nitride. The Mott-Schottky heterojunction isobtained as electrons flow through the metal-semiconductor interface to Pddue to the difference in the work functions of Pd and carbon nitride. Thiselectron enrichment of Pd nanoparticles significantly enhances thecatalytic performance on the dehydrogenation of formic acid. Furtherimprovement of the catalytic activity is achieved by exciting the carbonnitride with visible light, causing a higher electron density on Pdnanoparticles. Also, this catalyst could be used in the transferhydrogenation of nitrobenzene using formic acid as hydrogen source.