Effects of metal-support interactions on the hydrogenation of CO over Pd/SiO2 and Pd/La2O3

A study of CO hydrogenation over PdSiO2 and PdLa2O3 has been carried out for the purpose of identifying the effects of Pd dispersion, Pd morphology, and support composition on the catalytic activity of supported Pd. The specific activity of each catalyst for methanol and methane synthesis was determined from microreactor studies carried out at a fixed set of reaction conditions. Palladium dispersion was measured by H2O2 titration, and the morphology of the Pd crystallites, as expressed by the distribution of Pd(100) and Pd(111) planes, was determined from in situ infrared spectra of adsorbed CO. The crystallite morphology of the PdSiO2 catalysts is the same, independent of Pd weight loading: 90% of the surface is comprised of Pd(100) planes and 10% of the surface is comprised of Pd(111) planes. By contrast, the crystallite morphology of the PdLa2O3 catalysts changes with Pd loading. Primarily Pd(100) planes are exposed at low-weight loadings while Pd(111) planes are exposed at high-weight loadings. The Pd dispersion has little effect on the methanol turnover frequency over both PdSiO2 and PdLa2O3, for dispersions between 10 and 20%. On the other hand, the methane turnover frequency is independent of Pd dispersion over PdSiO2, but increases with decreasing dispersion over PdLa2O3. It is further observed that the Pd morphology influences the specific activity of PdLa2O3 for methanol synthesis: Pd(100) is nearly threefold more active than Pd(111). For a fixed morphology, the specific methanol synthesis activity of PdLa2O3 is a factor of 7.5 greater than that of PdSiO2.