Executive Summary : | Hydrogen peroxide (H?O?) is a highly effective and eco-friendly oxidant used in waste stream treatment, fine chemical synthesis, bleaching of paper pulp and textiles, and extraction of precious metals. India's H?O? market demand is expected to reach 0.5 million tons by FY2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.4%. The current anthraquinone oxidation (AO) process produces H?O?, but it produces unwanted wastes like anthrone and oxanthrone. Direct synthesis offers an alternative, using greener solvents and avoiding storage and transportation issues. However, the process suffers from poor selectivity due to the formation of H?O from H? and O?, which is thermodynamically more favorable than H?O formation. Palladium (Pd) is known to catalyze direct H?O? synthesis, but it is unselective due to its hydrogenation of H?O? to H?O. Incorporating other noble metals like Au and Pt can mitigate this problem, increasing the rate of H? activation and H?O? formation. However, these catalytic systems involve noble metals, leading to cost issues and unsuitable yields for industrial applications. To achieve this objective, the lab proposes synthesizing various porous supports such as activated carbon, SiO?, Al?O?, CMK-13, and ZSM-5. This approach allows for better dispersion of Pd nanoparticles, increasing atomic utilization and reducing overall costs. Surface properties of different supports, electronic properties of Pd, and the effect of promoters will also be studied to improve catalytic activity and selectivity for direct H?O? production. |