LAUSR

Abstract The MgO-doped hexagonal boron nitride (MgO-h-BN) nanomaterials were designed as a support for Palladium (Pd) catalysts for CO oxidation reaction. The catalytic properties of Pd/MgO(5)-h-BN catalyst was investigated and compared with Pd/h-BN catalyst. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results suggested that the PdO nanoparticles with small grain sizes (ca. 8 nm) were effectively dispersed on the surface of MgO, and the MgO were deposited on the h-BN nanosheets in the Pd/MgO(5)-h-BN catalyst. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed that a small amount of Mg2+ embedded into the B vacancies of h-BN nanosheets in the Pd/MgO(5)-h-BN catalyst. More significantly, a large amount of adsorbed oxygen appeared near the B vacancies of Pd/MgO(5)-h-BN catalyst. The experiments outcomes of diffuse reflectance fourier transform spectra analysis of CO (CO-DRIFT) indicated that the carbonate/formate species were easily decomposed to CO2 on the Pd/MgO(5)-h-BN catalyst than Pd/h-BN catalyst, which might be a reason why the Pd/MgO(5)-h-BN catalyst had high CO oxidation activity. According to above analyses, we provide a new insight for the MgO-h-BN nanomaterials for Pd catalysts for application in CO oxidation reaction.