Tuning hydrophilic properties of carbon nanotubes: A challenge for enhancing selectivity in Pd catalyzed alcohol oxidation

CNTs were prepared by CCVD and functionalized with inorganic acid, with the aim to study the effect of the surface properties on the catalytic performance in the selective alcohol oxidation using polar (water) and apolar (cyclohexane) solvent. The match between properties of the reactant and the solvent allows tuning the selectivity of the reaction.

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► The paper report synthesis of Pd supported nanoparticles on CNTs with different functionalization.
► It is present a relationship between surface hydrophilicity/solvent and catalytic activity.
► It is possible to tune the activity/selectivity of a reaction by accurately matching the hydrophilicity of the surface.