The effect of the change of the structure on oxidative dehydrogenation of propane over cerium–zirconium catalysts

Abstract

AbstractA series of pure CeO2, ZrO2, and CeZrOx mixed metal oxide catalysts were prepared by a wetness impregnation method and were applied to the dehydrogenation of propane to propylene at 500°C and 0.1 MPa. The prepared catalysts were characterized by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopes (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and H2‐TPR. It was observed that the zirconium content of the solid solution of the mixed metal oxide catalyst was 5%–25%, while the zirconium content of the material with phase segregation was higher (50%). The addition of zirconium was proven to decrease the oxygen vacancy concentration on the catalyst surface and change the intensity of (111) crystal of cerium oxide in the catalysts. Among the prepared catalysts, the Ce0.90Zr0.10Ox catalyst with the maximum strength of the (111) crystal plane of cerium oxide exhibited the better catalytic oxidation performance for the dehydrogenation of propane to propylene. Compared with ZrO2 in the blank experiment, the average propane conversion and propylene selectivity of the Ce0.90Zr0.10Ox catalyst were increased by 10.78% and 17.95%, respectively.