Sonochemical synthesis of PdO@silica as a nanocatalyst for selective aerobic alcohol oxidation

•We report a simple method to synthesize the PdO@SNP by ultrasonic irradiation.•Silica supporter prevented PdO NP aggregation and generated well-dispersed PdO NP.•We evaluated the PdO@SNP as catalyst for selective alcohol oxidation.•Comparison of the PdO@SNP and the unsupported PdO NP for catalyst application.

A sonochemical method has been employed for the synthesis of palladium oxide (PdO) nanoparticles deposited on silica nanoparticle. By sonochemical process, the PdO nanoparticles were doped on the surface of silica at room temperature and atmospheric pressure with short reaction time. Silica nanoparticles were used as a supporting material to suppress aggregation and thereby to increase surface area of PdO nanoparticles. Fabricated PdO-doped silica nanoparticle (PdO@SNP) was applied as a nanocatalyst for selective alcohol oxidation reaction in the presence of molecular oxygen. The PdO@SNP composite showed higher catalytic activity and selectivity than unsupported PdO nanoparticle for aerobic alcohol oxidation reaction.