Immobilizing Highly Catalytically Active Noble Metal Nanoparticles on Reduced Graphene Oxide: A Non-Noble Metal Sacrificial Approach

In this work, we have developed a non-noble metal sacrificial approach for the first time to successfully immobilize highly dispersed AgPd nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The Co₃(BO₃)₂ co-precipitated with AgPd nanoparticles and subsequently sacrificed by acid etching effectively prevents the primary AgPd particles from aggregation. The resulted ultrafine AgPd nanoparticles exhibit the highest activity (turnover frequency, 2739 h^–1 at 323 K) among all the heterogeneous catalysts for the dehydrogenation of formic acid to generate hydrogen without CO impurity. The sacrificial approach opens up a new avenue for the development of high-performance metal nanocatalysts.