Convenient preparation of Pd/RGO catalyst for the efficient hydrodechlorination of various chlorophenols

Uniformly dispersed Pd nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) have been conveniently synthesized by a facile one-pot approach through the co-reduction of sodium tetrachloropalladate(II) and graphene oxide (GO) using NaBH4 as the reducing agent. The catalytic activity of Pd/RGO was investigated for aqueous hydrodechlorination (HDC) of chlorophenols at room temperature using hydrogen balloon pressure without any additives. Results indicated that Pd/RGO exhibited an excellent activity with a reaction rate of 280.0 min−1 gpd−1 for the hydrodechlorination (HDC) of 4-CP. Furthermore, the Pd nanoparticles supported on RGO can be easily recovered and reused for four times without any obvious leaching and loss of activity.