Oil shale phenol-derived aerogels as supports for palladium nanoparticles

Abstract

Palladium hexafluoroacetylacetonate [Pd(C4HF6O)2], which is both soluble and easily reducible in supercritical carbon dioxide, was used to impregnate the porous structure of carbon aerogels based on phenolic compounds from oil shale processing water. Metallic nanoparticles uniformly distributed on the surface of the carbon matrix enable it to be used as a catalyst. Through the study of various pyrolysis programs and physical activation with CO2 and H2O in the carbon aerogel preparation process, significant increases in the BET specific surface area of the carbon supports (achieving values of over 1600 m2/g) were achieved, and the possibility of tailoring the porosity of the samples (microporosity ranging from 40% up to over 90%) was realized.