Perovskite-derived cobalt-based catalyst for catalytic propane dehydrogenation

This paper describes the synthesis and application of γ-Al2O3 supported SmCoO3 perovskite-type oxide in the catalytic propane dehydrogenation to propene. Various techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were used to characterize the physico-chemical properties of SmCoO3/Al2O3 and derived Co-based catalyst. The characterization results reveal that the perovskite lattice confinement can lead to better dispersed cobalt oxide and restrain the reduction to metallic Co species. Under the high weight hourly space velocity (3 h−1), the propane conversion and propene selectivity of the reduced SmCoO3/Al2O3 catalyst were 25% and 94%, respectively, and obviously higher than those of the reduced SmCoO/Al2O3 catalyst used as a referential sample prepared by an incipient wetness impregnation method. A large amount of coke was formed over the used SmCoO/Al2O3 catalyst. Instead, the SmCoO3/Al2O3-derived Co-based catalyst can greatly reduce the amount of coke deposition. The superior catalytic performance and anti-coking ability of SmCoO3/Al2O3 catalyst are attributed to the formation of a large amount of well-dispersed surface Co2+ species, especially small CoO nanoparticles, and the absence of metallic Co species.