Hydrogenation of nitrobenzene over nano-sized Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

Aniline was prepared by catalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene (NB) on nano-sized Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst synthesized by sol-gel method. The catalyst was characterized by SEM, XRD and TEM. The average size of Pd particles was 36 nm. In this reaction, the hydrogenation rate was zero-order with respect to nitrobenzene concentration and increased with increasing of hydrogen pressure. Compared with commercial Pd/γ-Al2O3, catalytic activity and selectivity of the as-prepared Pd/γ-Al2O3 is superior. The reason proposed for higher catalytic activity of nano-sized Pd is the small particle size and high-density surface defects.

Keywords:

Nitrobenzene , Aniline , Nano-sized Pd/γ-Al2O3 , Catalytic hydrogenation