Synergistic effect of metal components of the low-loaded Pt-Ni-Cr/C catalyst in the bicyclohexyl dehydrogenation reaction

The problem of hydrogen storage in liquid organic hydrogen carriers is not only the choice of an appropriate organic substrate, but the development of a selective and active catalyst containing as low as possible noble metals. A synergistic effect of increasing conversion and selectivity in bicyclohexyl dehydrogenation to biphenyl on trimetallic Pt-Ni-Cr/C catalysts with an extremely low Pt loading (0.1 wt %), compared with bimetallic Ni-Cr/C and Pt/Ni/C systems, due to the supporting of platinum on nickel-chromium nanoparticles was established for the first time. The TOF values (mmol (H₂)/g_Pt min) for hydrogen evolution under conditions of the reaction of bicyclohexyl dehydrogenation (320 °C, 0.1 MPa) on Pt supported onto a Ni-Cr/С composite exceed by two orders of magnitude the values found for the two-component catalysts. The maximum amount of the evolved hydrogen correlates to the selectivity of the complete dehydrogenation of bicyclohexyl into biphenyl on the Pt-Ni-Cr/C catalyst. The formation of a Ni-Cr solid substitution solution in a Ni-Cr composite deposited on a carbon carrier is shown by magnetometry, XRD, and TEM methods.