Highly Effective Direct Dehydrogenation of Propane to Propylene by Microwave Catalysis at Low Temperature over Co−Sn/NC Microwave Catalyst

Abstract

AbstractThe direct catalytic dehydrogenation of propane (C3H8) to value‐added propylene (C3H6) has attracted much attention. However, direct dehydrogenation of C3H8 to C3H6 with outstanding catalytic performance at low temperature is a great challenge. Herein, we report a new approach for the direct dehydrogenation of C3H8 to C3H6 at low temperature by microwave catalysis over non‐precious Co−Sn/NC microwave catalyst. It is found that the microwave direct catalytic dehydrogenation of C3H8 over Co−Sn/NC microwave catalyst at low temperature (450 °C) is highly efficient. The C3H8 conversion is 15 % and the C3H6 selectivity is 75 % at 450 °C. Comparatively, the C3H8 conversion and C3H6 selectivity were respectively only 3.2 % and 67.8 % for Co−Sn/NC catalyst at 450 °C in the conventional reaction mode under identical conditions. Furthermore, the microwave catalyst does not show visible change after tested for 180 min. Importantly, the apparent activation energy of Co−Sn/NC catalyst drop from 59.58 kJ/mol in the conventional reaction mode to 20.98 kJ/mol in microwave catalytic reaction mode, which suggests a significant microwave direct catalytic effect. This work provides a novel approach for highly effective direct dehydrogenation of C3H8 to C3H6 by microwave irradiation at low temperature.