Gold Supported on Graphene Oxide: An Active and Selective Catalyst for Phenylacetylene Hydrogenations at Low Temperatures

• DOI: 10.1021/cs5002724
• Publication Date: 2014-06-12T19:52:37Z
• Authors: Lidong Shao; Xing Huang; Detre Teschner; Wei Zhang
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

A constraint to industrial implementation of gold-catalyzed alkyne hydrogenation is that the catalytic activity was always inferior to those of other noble metals. In this work, gold was supported on graphene oxide (Au/GO) and used in a hydrogenation application. A 99% selectivity toward styrene with a 99% conversion in the hydrogenation of phenylacetylene was obtained at 60 °C, which is 100 to 200 °C lower than optimal temperatures in most previous reports on Au catalysts. A series of gold- and palladium-based reference catalysts were tested under the same conditions for phenylacetylene hydrogenation, and the performance of Au/GO was substantiated by studying the role of functionalized GO in governing the geometrical structure and thermal stability of supported Au nanoparticles under reaction conditions.