Direct Synthesis of H2O2 from H2 and O2 over Carbon Supported Au, Pd and Au-Pd/C Bimetallic Catalysts

The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen using Pd/C, Au/C and bimetallic Au-Pd/C in a batch reactor was investigated and the kinetic curves have been obtained. Mesoporous carbon (Sibunit) was used as a support in the forms of oxidized and non-oxidized states. The presence of two metals (Pd, Au) on the carbon support enhances the catalytic performance compared to both Pd/C and Au/C catalysts in the case of non-oxidized and oxidized Sibunit. The enhancements become more apparent as the reaction time increases. Pre-oxidizing of the catalytic support also affects the catalytic performance of both the bimetallic Au-Pd/C and monometallic Pd/C catalysts for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide. In the case of the monometallic Pd/C catalyst, when a pre-oxidized support, was used, the catalytic activities of the production of hydrogen peroxide and water increase in the same order of magnitude. Additionally, the pre-oxidized sibunit enhances the yield considerably. Nonetheless, the selectivity changes were found to be minimal. For the bimetallic Au-Pd/C catalysts, the behaviour was the opposite: the use of a pre-oxidized support increases the selectivity and consequently the catalytic performance for the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide, by reducing the production of water.