Catalytic enhancement of platinum supported on zeolite beta for toluene hydrogenation by addition of palladium

This work focused on the preparation, characterization and catalytic performance of a bimetallic platinum–palladium catalyst for toluene hydrogenation. A catalyst with 3 wt% loading of each metal was prepared by co-impregnation on zeolite beta in proton form and denoted as 3Pt3Pd/HBEA. The structure of HBEA was retained after catalyst preparation and the metal occupied strong acidic sites of the zeolite. Compared to monometallic 3Pt/HBEA, the 3Pt3Pd/HBEA exhibited smaller Pt particle size due to better dispersion on the support. The catalytic performance of the bimetallic catalyst at various temperatures indicated that the presence of Pd enhanced toluene hydrogenation of Pt catalyst at high temperature. The most suitable temperature for toluene hydrogenation on 3Pt3Pd/HBEA was 150 °C for which a complete toluene conversion was obtained with methylcyclohexane as the only product.