Catalytic properties of palygorskite supported Ru and Pd for efficient oxidation of alcohols

Natural palygorskite (PG) was employed to prepare cost-effective, reusable supported catalyst of Pd/PG and Ru/PG through wet impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized through AFM, ICP-AES, XPS, XRD, BET, TEM and FTIR. The catalytic properties of the synthesized catalysts were assessed and optimized through oxidation of alcohols with PhIO as oxidant. It showed that the existence of Ru and Pd in the catalysts dramatically enhanced the catalytic activity with a prominent selectivity of far more than 99% compared with the palygorskite.