The High-Performance and Ultralow Pd–Ni Bimetallic Alloy Nanocatalyst for Hydrogenation of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber

At present, most of the catalysts used for heterogeneous hydrogenation of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) are noble metal catalysts, which require high metal loading but low metal utilization and face challenges in recovery, leading to significant resource waste. The steric hindrance imposed by the large polymer molecules renders the hydrogenation of unsaturated C═C bonds in the backbone particularly challenging, and the degree of hydrogenation is low. In this experiment, Pd–Ni bimetallic nanocatalyst was prepared by co-impregnation method. The catalyst has uniformly distributed catalytic site and high selectivity for C═C bond hydrogenation and achieved a hydrogenation degree of 96% under optimized reaction conditions. The electronic state of Pd is modulated by Ni, enhancing hydrogen activation and catalytic activity. This study provides a novel strategy for developing NBR hydrogenation catalysts, which is significant for the large-scale production of high-value-added HNBR.