Experimental and theoretical studies on the effects of magnetic fields on the arrangement of surface spins and the catalytic activity of Pd nanoparticles.

Nanocatalysts have very high catalytic activities due to surface atoms with their unpaired spins. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate the effect of magnetic fields (MFs) on the arrangement of surface spins and their catalytic activities. Pd nanoparticles supported on MIL-100(Cr) were selected as catalysts for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol under MFs. The result demonstrates that MFs can reduce the reaction time from 2.6 to 1.4 min under 0.5 T. This study first shows that the configuration of surface spins has an effect on the catalytic activity, which can be regulated by a foreign MF.