Thermally conductive SiC as support of aluminum fluoride for the catalytic dehydrofluorination reaction

Abstract

Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) is a typical catalyst for dehydrofluorination of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to fluoroolefins with high heat of reaction. Consequently, heat supply and sintering are the key challenges for AlF3-based catalysts. Herein, SiC with high thermal conductivity and resistance to HF corrosion is suggested as a candidate support of AlF3 catalyst. The interaction between AlF3 and SiC leads to uniform distribution of the catalytic phase, and as a result of this, AlF3/SiC exhibits high catalytic activity and stability for the dehydrofluorination of 1,1-difluoroethane to vinyl fluoride. This study proposes a novel catalyst support (SiC) for strong endothermic catalytic reactions involving HFCs for the first time to the best of our knowledge.