Selective and Stable Non-Noble-Metal Intermetallic Compound Catalyst for the Direct Dehydrogenation of Propane to Propylene

Yang He; Yuanjun Song; David A Cullen; Siris Laursen

doi:10.1021/jacs.8b05060

Selective and Stable Non-Noble-Metal Intermetallic Compound Catalyst for the Direct Dehydrogenation of Propane to Propylene

J Am Chem Soc. 2018 Oct 31;140(43):14010-14014. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b05060. Epub 2018 Oct 22.

Authors

Yang He¹, Yuanjun Song¹, David A Cullen², Siris Laursen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , University of Tennessee , Knoxville , Tennessee 37996 , United States.
² Materials Science and Technology Division and Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences , Oak Ridge National Laboratory , Oak Ridge , Tennessee 37831 , United States.

PMID: 30346723
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b05060

Abstract

A non-noble intermetallic compound catalyst consisting of Ni₃Ga nanoparticles supported on Al₂O₃ that exhibits high selectivity (∼94%), comparable activity (TOF = 4.7 × 10^-2 s^-1), good stability (∼94% to 81% over the 82 h test), and regenerability in the direct dehydrogenation of propane to propylene at 600 °C has been developed. Through synthesis techniques that stabilize the Ni₃Ga phase, the surface composition of the catalytic nanoparticles could be tuned by Ni and Ga loading such that improved selectivity toward propylene may be achieved. Comparisons with well-defined silica-supported Ni₃Ga and NiGa catalysts and Ni₃Ga/Al₂O₃ with a range of Ni:Ga loading suggested that a specific surface composition range was most promising for propylene production. The presence of Ni at the active particle surface was also found to be critical to drive dehydrogenation and enhance conversion, whereas the presence of Ga was necessary to attenuate the reactivity of the surface to improve selectivity and catalyst stability.