Synergistic Catalytic Activity of RuPd Bimetallic Nanoparticles for Efficient Methyl Orange Degradation
Abstract
Bimetallic RuPd nanoparticles (RuPd NPs) were successfully synthesized on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates via a liquid-phase deposition method and evaluated for catalytic hydrogenation of methyl orange under microwave irradiation. Structural and morphological analyses reveal that Ru incorporation induces a transformation from irregular Pd nanoparticles to hierarchical cauliflower-like RuPd nanostructures composed of nanospherical subunits. XRD, TEM, and EDX analyses confirm the formation of an alloyed Ru–Pd phase with tunable elemental distribution. The catalytic performance strongly depends on Ru precursor
concentration, with an optimal value of 0.27 mM yielding a high kinetic rate constant of 1.1 × 10⁻² s⁻¹. The catalyst exhibits excellent turnover number (7,658) and turnover frequency (4.7 × 10¹ s⁻¹). Enhanced catalytic activity is attributed to Ru-induced electronic
modulation of the Pd d-band, promoting superior hydrogenation efficiency.
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