Bimetallic Pd@Ni-mesoporous TiO2 nanocatalyst for highly improved and selective hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds under UV light radiation

Bimetallic Pd@Ni nanostructure exhibited enhanced co-catalytic activity for the selective hydrogenation of benzaldehyde compare to their monometallic counterparts. Impregnation of these mono/bimetallic nanostructures on mesoporous $TiO_2$ leads to several surface modifications. The bimetallic PNT-3 ($Pd_3@Ni_1/mTiO_2$) exhibited large surface area ($212m^2g^{-1}$), and low recombination rate of the charge carriers ($e^--h^+$). The hydrogenation reaction was analyzed under controlled experiments. It was observed that under UV-light irradiations and saturated hydrogen atmosphere the bimetallic PNT-3 photocatalyst display higher rate constant $k=5.31{\times}10^{-1}h^{-1}$ owing to reduction in the barrier height which leads to efficiently transfer of electron at bimetallic/$mTiO_2$ interface.