Bimetallic Catalyzed Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide – Kinetics, Effect of Support and Reaction Medium

Hydrogen peroxide is a versatile oxidant and has myriad industrial applications. The manuscript deals with the kinetic study for hydrogen peroxide decomposition using mono and bimetallic catalyst with different support and reaction mediums. Decomposition reaction has a major influence on three areas: (1) organic oxidations, where it is used as an oxidant to get intermediates and at times forming within the reaction as well; (2) polymer electrolyte fuel cells, where it acts as a degrading factor to cell stacks and (3) direct synthesis of peroxide through the gas-phase reaction of H2 and O2 to get H2O2. To enhance the hydrogen peroxide utility in the various processes, the decomposition activities of Au-Pd based bimetallic catalysts were tested. Bimetallic and monometallic supported catalysts were synthesized and evaluated to get the rate of decomposition. The catalysts were characterized using XRD, FTIR, TEM, and BET analysis. Hydrogen peroxide decomposition was studied in different mediums, namely, aqueous, acidic, and alkaline with/without halide to cater to the effect of change in the medium employed in different organic oxidations. First-order rate kinetics was assumed and the rate of decomposition was evaluated. Specific rate constants were evaluated and compared for all the catalysts for all the different mediums. The performance of the reaction in view of metal-support interaction and the effect of the reaction medium were studied.