Pd Atomic Engineering of Nanoporous Ni/NiO for Efficient Nitrophenol Hydrogenation Reaction

The catalytic hydrogenation of nitrophenols is widely utilized for both industrial synthesis and environmental protection, thus efficient and cost-effective catalysts are in urgent need. Still, the cost and scarcity of the materials still inhibit their application and the active sites are not well specified, especially in the complex catalysts. Herein, we developed an atomic Pd-doped nanoporous Ni/NiO (Pd₁@np-Ni/NiO) catalyst via facial dealloying for efficient nitrophenol hydrogenation reaction under mild conditions. Pd₁@np-Ni/NiO achieves an excellent specific activity (1301 min^-1 mg_Pd^-1, 35.2 times that of commercial Pd/C), nearly 100% selectivity, and continuous reproducibility. The catalytic performance is highly relevant to the Ni sites on the catalysts regarding the exposure sites and the intrinsic property. The metal/metal oxide interfacial structure could cooperatively accelerate the catalytic reaction kinetics. The atomic dopants could effectively modulate the electronic structure, facilitate the absorption of molecules, and reduce the energy barrier of catalytic hydrogenation reaction. Based on the efficient catalyst, the protype nitrophenol//NaBH₄ battery is designed for efficient material conversion and power output, which is very attractive for green energy systems.