Synergy of ionic liquid and confinement in the design of supported palladium catalyst for efficient selective hydrogenation of acetylene

The fabrication of core–shell architecture combined with the advantages of ionic liquid layer provides a new platform for efficient catalytic transfer of chemical resource. • Supported Pd catalyst with ionic liquids layer (Pd@S-1@IL) were assembled for selective hydrogenation of acetylene. • Stable long-term selectivity observed for Pd@S-1@IL catalyst. • Excellent selectivity was ascribed to electronic and filter effects arising from ionic liquid layer. We present here a novel fabrication of highly effective supported Pd catalysts (Pd@S-1@IL) derived from Pd@S-1 core–shell material coated with ionic liquids (ILs), [Prmim][Cl], for the selective hydrogenation of acetylene. Catalytic testing on Pd@S-1@IL catalyst illustrated a remarkable selectivity towards semi-hydrogenation (over 90% for ethylene, irrespective of conversion level). Moreover, no indications of deactivation were observed after 800 h on stream even under relatively severe conditions. Detailed characterization indicated that the selectivity enhancement was ascribed to the filter effect along with electronic effect on the adsorption/desorption processes arising from the ionic liquids layer. The stability, which has ranked the top reported values over advanced Pd-based catalysts, is attributed to the confinement effect of Pd NPs within the supports thus restricting the migration of metals. The fabrication of core–shell architecture combined with the advantages of ionic liquid layer offers a promising guideline for efficient catalytic transfer of chemical resource.