Anthraquinone hydrogenation to produce H

2

O

2

is an economically interesting reaction with great industrial importance. Here

we report a series of Pd/

x

Al catalysts with different AlCl

3

contents by a conventional stepwise impregnation method. The optimal Pd/1.0Al catalyst exhibits a higher performance toward anthraquinone hydrogenation with 8.3 g·L

-1

hydrogenation efficiency

99.5% selectivity and good stability

obviously superior to that of Pd/Al

2

O

3

catalyst (5.2 g·L

-1

and 97.2%). Detailed characterization demonstrates that AlCl

3

can be grafted on the γ-Al

2

O

3

support to obtain a modified support with abundant surface weak acid and Lewis acid

which can adsorb and activate anthraquinone. Meanwhile

its steric hindrance could isolate and disperse active metals to form more active sites. The synergies between metal sites and acid sites promotes the anthraquinone hydrogenation. Furthermore

the good stability after grafting AlCl

3

could attribute to the enhanced metal-support interaction inhibiting metal particles agglomeration and leaching.