Synthesis of metal intercalated clay catalysts for selective hydrogenation reactions

Interlamellar space of the smectite clay minerals have been found as an excellent nano phase reactor due to their easy swelling property and the adsorption capacity. In this work size quantized nano particles of catalytically active noble metals have been generated within the interlamellar space of the smectite type clay minerals. Platinum and ruthenium intercalated/impregnated montmorillonite and hectorite catalysts were synthesised and characterized by various instrumental techniques. Catalytic activity of the synthesised catalysts was evaluated towards hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde in liquid phase. The effect of various reaction parameters such as temperature, hydrogen pressure, solvents, and amount of catalyst and time on stream on conversion and selectivity were studied and the results are discussed. The studies revealed that noble metal intercalated/impregnated clay catalysts were very effective in hydrogenation reactions as they showed significant conversion and selectivity. Comparison of catalytic activity made with the impregnated catalysts showed that the intercalated catalysts were better than impregnated catalysts in terms of conversion and selectivity.