Pd Atomic Engineering of Nanoporous Ni/NiO for Efficient Nitrophenol Hydrogenation Reaction

The catalytic hydrogenation of nitrophenols is widelyutilizedfor both industrial synthesis and environmental protection, thus efficientand cost-effective catalysts are in urgent need. Still, the cost andscarcity of the materials still inhibit their application and theactive sites are not well specified, especially in the complex catalysts.Herein, we developed an atomic Pd-doped nanoporous Ni/NiO (Pd-1@np-Ni/NiO) catalyst via facial dealloying for efficient nitrophenolhydrogenation reaction under mild conditions. Pd-1@np-Ni/NiOachieves an excellent specific activity (1301 min(-1) mg(Pd) (-1), 35.2 times that of commercialPd/C), nearly 100% selectivity, and continuous reproducibility. Thecatalytic performance is highly relevant to the Ni sites on the catalystsregarding the exposure sites and the intrinsic property. The metal/metaloxide interfacial structure could cooperatively accelerate the catalyticreaction kinetics. The atomic dopants could effectively modulate theelectronic structure, facilitate the absorption of molecules, andreduce the energy barrier of catalytic hydrogenation reaction. Basedon the efficient catalyst, the protype nitrophenol//NaBH4 battery is designed for efficient material conversion and poweroutput, which is very attractive for green energy systems.