Effect of IB-metal on Ni/SiO2 catalyst for selective hydrogenation of acetylene

The IB metal (Au, Ag and Cu) alloyed Pd single atom catalysts had been proved to be efficient in promoting the selectivity for hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene. As a base metal in the same group as Pd, the Ni-based catalysts are also active for hydrogenation reactions. Herein, the effects of the IB metals on the Ni/SiO 2 catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of acetylene were systematically studied. Different from the Pd/SiO 2 catalyst, the monometallic Ni/SiO 2 catalyst is not active at low temperatures. The addition of the IB metals to the Ni/SiO 2 catalysts can greatly enhance the activity. Besides, the catalytic activity of the AuNi x /SiO 2 and CuNi x /SiO 2 catalysts increase with the reduction temperature, while the AgNi x /SiO 2 catalysts are not sensitive to the pretreatment temperature. The origin of the effect of the different IB metals on the Ni-based catalysts for selective hydrogenation of acetylene is discussed based on the characterizations by XRD, TPR and microcalorimetric measurements. The IB-Ni bimetallic catalysts exhibited much higher activity than the monometallic Ni/SiO 2 , which could be contributed to the different adsorption energy of C 2 H 2 on the surfaces of the catalysts.