Palladium–Nickel Supported and Palladated Activated Diatomite as an Efficient Catalyst for Poly-α-olefins Hydrogenation

In this work, comparative testing of the activity of low-percentage palladium and palladium-nickel catalysts supported on activated diatomite with a commercial nickel catalyst from BASF was carried out in the process of hydrogenation of polyalphaolefins (PAO-4). It has been found that palladium catalysts carry out the process under milder conditions, demonstrate higher activity compared to nickel catalysts, significantly reduce the process time, and provide a higher degree of hydrogenation. The activity of bimetallic catalysts is lower than that of monometallic palladium catalysts. Furthermore, Ni exhibits a reaction temperature of at least 150 °C, while Pd is at least 110 °C. If nickel is a single-use catalyst, then when palladium is used 5 times remains an excellent catalytic activity. Catalyst activity is related to the form of adsorbed hydrogen, and on Pd catalyst hydrogen is weakly bound form, while on Ni hydrogen is strongly bound form. The physicochemical characteristics of catalysts and polyalphaolefin oils also have been determined.