Determination of the specific activity for methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation of different surface orientations of palladium-supported catalysts

The percentage of crystallites with different plane orientations (111), (110), (100) on a Pd-supported catalyst has been measured using TEM and chemisorption of O2, H2 and CO. Specific catalytic activities of the different crystal faces have been determined for the dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane. It is found that the (111) face is four times more active than either the (110) or (100) face.