Facile Synthesis of Well‐Dispersed Pd Nanoparticles on Ti‐Doped CeO2 Nanosheets and Their Use as Catalyst in the Hydrogenation of 4‐Nitrophenol.

We report a facile preparation method of Ti‐doped CeO2 nanosheets and their use as supports for palladium (Pd) deposition. The nanosheets were fabricated by the coordination‐precipitation method, and Pd nanoparticles were placed on the surfaces in situ. The obtained Pd‐loaded nanosheets TixCe1–xO2‐Pd were applied as catalysts in the hydrogenation of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP). While the catalyst supported by pure CeO2 nanosheets exhibited a 4‐NP conversion of 40 % in 10 min, doping a small amount of Ti into the support led to a faster 4‐NP reduction of 80 % in 10 min and quantitative conversion in 30 min. The hydrogenation of 4‐NP catalyzed by Ti0.1Ce0.9O2‐Pd exhibited a relatively high apparent reaction rate constant (k = 0.134 min‐1). This high catalytic activity could be attributed to the synergetic effect of the Pd nanoparticles with high dispersion and the TixCe1–xO2 supports with high oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, these catalysts displayed high reproducibility and chemical stability: they can be recycled and reused for at least 5 times with negligible loss of catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]