Fully exposed palladium clusters mitigate catalyst poisoning during water contaminant reduction

Zhao, Guoqiang, Duan, Chongsen, Yang, Ji, Qi, Haifeng, Liu, Tian and Xu, Huacheng 2025. Fully exposed palladium clusters mitigate catalyst poisoning during water contaminant reduction. Water Research 285 , 124067. 10.1016/j.watres.2025.124067 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Palladium-based catalysts hold great promise for water treatment applications but are often poisoned by sulfur species and natural organic matter (NOM). Here, we present a photochemical strategy to synthesize fully exposed Pd clusters through oxygen coordination to mitigate sulfur and NOM poisoning. These ultrasmall Pd clusters efficiently catalyze the hydrogenation of carbon-halogen bonds in sulfur-rich (50 µM) and NOM-rich (10 mg C/L) water matrices. Experimental and computational studies reveal that oxygen-coordinated Pd-Pd sites in fully exposed Pd clusters exhibit weaker sulfur and NOM adsorption at top and bridge sites, thereby mitigating catalyst poisoning. In contrast, conventional Pd nanoparticles possess predominantly metallic Pd sites that strongly bind poisoning species at hollow sites, resulting in rapid deactivation. These fully exposed clusters not only mitigate deactivation by sulfur and organic species, but also maintain high catalytic activity across a broad range of water contaminants and complex water matrices. This work presents a new design strategy for developing robust and selective hydrogenation catalysts for advanced water treatment applications. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.]

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Chemistry
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0043-1354
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	31 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	20 June 2025
Last Modified:	31 Jul 2025 07:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179862

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