The role of palladium carbides in the catalytic hydrogenation of ethylene over supported palladium nanoparticles

Palladium nanoparticles (NPs) find numerous applications as catalysts for hydrogenation of hydrocarbons. Under reaction conditions, formation of palladium hydrides and carbides may occur, which affects the catalytic properties of the catalyst. Unlike pure hydride phase, whose phase diagram is well-studied, conditions of formation of palladium carbides and mixed hydride/carbide structures in Pd NPs is poorly investigated. We present an operando study of a supported Pd/C catalyst during ethylene hydrogenation reaction in a variable C2H4/H2 ratio. By simultaneous analysis of the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra, we demonstrated an irreversible behavior in the catalyst structure explained by carbide phase formation even in the instant excess of molecular hydrogen with respect to molecular ethylene in the gas feed. The relevant role of the carbide phase was demonstrated by correlations between the carbide phase amount and ethylene conversion. An interesting behavior of the atomic structure of the Pd NPs has been observed upon periodic variation of the amount of ethylene in the reaction mixture. The obtained results provide significant information about the structural evolution of Pd NPs during ethylene hydrogenation reaction and highlight the importance of operando XANES spectroscopy for characterization of the working catalysts.