Supported anisotropic bimetallic nanocrystals are attractive owing to their potential for novel catalytic applications. Au-Pd nanocrystals are expected to have higher catalytic activity for alcohol oxidation than Au nanocrystals. However, only a few studies have reported the application of anisotropic Au-Pd nanocrystals as alcohol-oxidation nanocatalysts. Support materials such as Al2O3 and Fe2O3 influence the catalytic activity of spherical Au nanoparticles. Thus, optimization of the support is expected to improve the catalytic activity of anisotropic Au-Pd nanocrystals. Herein, we report the synthesis and catalytic performances of Al2O3- and Fe2O3-supported Au and Au-Pd nanoflowers. Au99-Pd1 NFs supported on Fe2O3 exhibited the highest catalytic activity for 1-phenylethyl alcohol oxidation.
Keywords: alcohol oxidation; catalyst; nanocrystal; nanoflower; support.