Hierarchical carbon-incorporated boron nitride derived from protein flocculation for efficient oxidative dehydrogenation of propane

The oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) is considered as a promising novel approach for propylene production, with the development of highly efficient catalysts being crucial to its successful industrial implementation. The remarkable olefin selectivity exhibits by boron-based catalysts positions them as highly competitive catalytic systems for the ODHP reaction. In this study, employing the concept of protein flocculation, we synthesized a cost-effective carbon-doped boron nitride material with hierarchical porous (MA-CBN-x) utilizing soybean as an economical carbon source. The catalyst was employed for the ODHP reaction, yielding favorable catalytic outcomes. The selectivities of olefins (C3H6 and C2H4) over MA-CBN-10 catalyst exceeded 90 % at temperatures below 500 degrees C. At 520 degrees C, the olefins yield reached 44.2 % with a propane conversion of 69.0 %, surpassing those of reported borocarbonitride catalysts. The characterization results demonstrated that the incorporation of carbon into h-BN framework effectively increased the surface area of the sample, and the protein flocculation and ammonolysis processes simultaneously induced the generation of abundant hierarchical porous within the material. The DFT calculation results further demonstrate that the carbon doping facilitated a significant increase in nitrogen vacancies, thereby promoting the generation of active boron-oxygen species (such as B-OO-B) at tri-boron centers, which played a pivotal role in the ODHP reaction. The carbon-doped BN catalyst synthesized using this method displayed a structurally stable framework and exceptional performance, thereby presenting a novel concept and experimental guidance for the development of efficient and durable ODHP catalysts.