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Photo-enhanced spillover hydrogenation over semiconductor-supported Pd nanocatalysts

Nature Catalysis volume 9, pages 338–347 (2026) Cite this article

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Abstract

Spillover hydrogenation—a process by which reduction occurs via spilled hydrogen species—is an emerging strategy for selective hydrogenation reactions. Methods to promote spillover hydrogenation on supported Pd nanocatalysts, such as encapsulating Pd nanoparticles or using porous channels, often reduce the availability of Pd sites or increase mass transfer resistance. Here we show that light irradiation can directly induce site separation to enable spillover hydrogenation over semiconductor-supported Pd nanocatalysts, without impairing catalytic activity. Photogenerated electrons accumulated on Pd nanoparticles suppress unsaturated substrate adsorption, ensuring that the Pd exclusively facilitates H2 dissociation. Photogenerated holes left on the support enhance substrate adsorption and active hydrogen migration. Here, this photo-enhanced spillover hydrogenation is validated across multiple catalytic systems (Pd/SrTiO3, Pd/ZnO, Pd/PCN and Ru/MnOx), demonstrating that this effect is not material-specific, but is a generalizable interfacial phenomenon. These findings suggest that light irradiation is a widely applicable methodology for improving spillover hydrogenation efficiency.

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Fig. 1: Illustration of spillover hydrogenation.
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Fig. 2: Structural characterization and catalytic performance of Pd/SrTiO3.
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Fig. 3: Photo-induced electrons accumulate on the Pd nanoparticles.
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Fig. 4: Adsorption behaviour of PA on Pd/SrTiO3.
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Fig. 5: Photo-enhanced hydrogen spillover.
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Fig. 6: Photo-enhanced spillover hydrogenation.
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Fig. 7: Spillover hydrogenation mechanism.
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Data availability

Data that support the findings of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information, or available from the corresponding authors upon request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22032002 to X.W.; 22372036 to J.Z.; U24A20567 to X.W.; 21972022 to J.Z.; 22572034 to K.L.; 22302040 to K.L.), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (2024HZ027004 to J.Z.) and the 111 Project (D16008 to X.W.).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Baoying Yang, Kunlong Liu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Chemistry for NBC Hazards Protection, State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, P. R. China

    Baoying Yang, Kunlong Liu, Shengyang Zhong, Meirong Huang, Yidong Hou, Masakazu Anpo, Jinshui Zhang & Xinchen Wang

  2. Qingyuan Innovation Laboratory, Quanzhou, P. R. China

    Baoying Yang, Jinshui Zhang & Xinchen Wang

  3. Department of Applied Chemistry and Center for Emergent Functional Matter Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Jian-Jie Ma, Yi-Yu Chen & Sung-Fu Hung

  4. Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, P. R. China

    Jimmy C. Yu

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Contributions

X.W. and J.Z. conceived and supervised the research project. J.Z., K.L. and B.Y. designed and performed the synthesis and catalytic experiments. J.-J.M., Y.-Y.C. and S.-F.H. carried out the X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments. S.Z. was involved in part of the material characterizations. X.W., J.Z., J.C.Y., M.A., Y.H., M.H., K.L. and B.Y. prepared the manuscript. All authors contributed to the overall scientific interpretation.

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Correspondence to Jinshui Zhang or Xinchen Wang.

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Nature Catalysis thanks Gang Fu, Anabel Lanterna and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Yang, B., Liu, K., Zhong, S. et al. Photo-enhanced spillover hydrogenation over semiconductor-supported Pd nanocatalysts. Nat Catal 9, 338–347 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-026-01507-w

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