Cyclohexane dehydrogenation over Ni-Cu/SiO2 catalyst: Effect of copper addition

Abstract

A series of Ni-Cu/SiO2 catalysts were prepared by sol-gel method for use in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane to evolve hydrogen. The Ni/SiO2 catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity but low selectivity, due to the highly dispersion of Ni species. After the addition of Cu, the Ni-Cu nanoparticles with narrow size distribution (3–6nm) and a uniform structure of bimetallic Ni and Cu has been formed, and it drastically improves the selectivity to benzene. A 94.9% conversion of cyclohexane with 99.5% benzene selectivity was observed at 350°C in a continuous fixed bed flow reactor.