Efficient Non-Precious Metal Catalyst for Propane Dehydrogenation: Atomically Dispersed Cobalt-nitrogen Compounds on Carbon Nanotubes

A hybrid catalyst comprising atomically dispersed cobalt-nitrogen compounds anchoring on oxidized carbon nanotubes (OCNTs) is prepared and applied in propane dehydrogenation (PDH) reactions. The proposed non-precious catalyst exhibits high initial conversion (similar to 20 %) and excellent selectivity of propene (>95 %), which is superior to those of metal-free nanocarbon and some metal-based catalysts. The chemical composition and structure of the proposed hybrid catalysts are elucidated by a series of characterizations and control experiments with a single component. These characterization results combined with the kinetic analysis indicate that the catalytic activity mainly originates from the cobalt-nitrogen (Co-N) species supported on the OCNT surface. The present work sheds light on the structure-function relationships of CoN catalysts, paving the way to develop non-precious catalysts for PDH reactions.