Manufacture of Kaolin Supported-Palladium Catalysts via Electrospinning and Utilization in Heck and Sonogashira Reactions

A Pd nanoparticle/carbon nanofiber (Pd NP/CNF) catalyst was fabricated from modified kaolin via electrospinning. The catalyst was characterized using SEM, TEM, XPS, XRD, and FT-IR. Pd nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the CNFs, with several particles evenly incorporated inside the carbon fiber matrix, indicating a uniform particle distribution. Thereafter, the catalyst was used in Heck-Sonogashira coupling to evaluate its catalytic efficacy and reusability. Results indicated that the catalyst displayed exceptional stability and recyclability, maintaining its catalytic activity with minimal loss over a minimum of 10 consecutive usage cycles. This method of synthesizing a Pd-loaded nanofiber catalyst with modified kaolin is efficient and ecofriendly, presenting an innovative strategy for catalyst design in C-C coupling, with great potential for practical applications.