Controlled deposition of Pd and In on carbon fibers by sequential electroless plating for the catalytic reduction of nitrate in water

•In particles were deposited on the top of tiny Pd films formed on carbon fibers.•The structure of the films changed after catalytic nitrate reduction.•PdIn/carbon fibers having a Pd:In ratio of 2 was the most active catalyst.•High activity and selectivity were obtained using a structured support.

Catalysts containing 1.8 wt.% of Pd and different In loadings were prepared by sequential electroless plating on activated carbon felts (ACF). Homogeneous structures were obtained, with In particles deposited at the top of a tiny Pd film. The catalyst with the higher In loading (Pd:In ratio of 2.0) presented high activity and good selectivity towards nitrogen, with negligible deactivation after 6 h of time-on-stream and three consecutive nitrate pulses. Besides the promising catalytic behavior, PdIn/ACF have the advantages of an open structure, which is highly accessible to the reactants, with no need of separation after the reaction.

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