(198g) Synthesis of Electroless Copper-Palladium Catalyst for Glycerol Hydrogenolysis

A CuPd/Al₂O₃ catalyst was prepared using electroless deposition and used in the hydrogenolysis of glycerol to propylene glycol (1,2-propanediol). To accomplish the co-deposition of both metals various reducing and complex agents and combinations of these agents were used in electroless solution. Solution stability was observed to be an issue that is currently being tackled.  SEM images and EDAX compositional tables confirmed the presence of Cu and Pd on the Al₂O₃ surface and that due to thermal decomposition of the electroless solution, particles of Cu and Pd precipitate out of solution. Initial glycerol hydrogenolysis was done using a simple reactive distillation setup, 80 wt% glycerol in 1-butanol at 140^oC for 5 hours. Subsequent work includes testing more hydrogenolysis reactions using this set-up and catalysts that will be synthesized through impregnation and thermal decomposition, characterizing catalyst samples with TEM and XRD, and understanding the effects of electroless deposition process on catalytic activity.