Non-oxidative Coupling of Methane to Ethylene Using Mo2 C/[B]ZSM-5

Huibo Sheng; Edward P Schreiner; Weiqing Zheng; Raul F Lobo

doi:10.1002/cphc.201701001

Non-oxidative Coupling of Methane to Ethylene Using Mo₂ C/[B]ZSM-5

Chemphyschem. 2018 Feb 19;19(4):504-511. doi: 10.1002/cphc.201701001. Epub 2018 Jan 5.

Authors

Huibo Sheng¹, Edward P Schreiner¹, Weiqing Zheng¹, Raul F Lobo¹

Affiliation

¹ Center for Catalysis Science and Technology, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.

PMID: 29045043
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201701001

Abstract

Methane non-oxidative coupling to ethylene was investigated on Mo₂ C/[B]ZSM-5 catalyst at 923 K and atmospheric pressure. In contrast to Mo₂ C/[Al]ZSM-5 catalysts for methane aromatization, this material exhibits very high ethylene selectivity (>90 %) and low aromatics (benzene and naphthalene) selectivity. The much weaker Brønsted acidity of [B]ZSM-5 leads to a slow rate of ethylene oligomerization. The stability of the catalyst is greatly enhanced with 93 % of the initial reaction rate remaining after 18 h of time on stream. In-situ UV/VIS spectra indicate that prior to carburization, mono/binuclear Mo oxides are initially well dispersed onto the zeolite support. Mo carbides clusters, formed during carburization with methane, appear similar to clusters formed in [Al]ZSM-5, as indicated by the X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) data.

Keywords: catalysis; ethylene; methane activation; molybdenum carbide; zeolites.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't