Authors:

McKenna Clinch

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The conversion of alkanes to alkenes provides the petrochemical industry with its most significant precursors. Steam cracking, a commonly used method for ethylene and propylene production, requires excessive input of energy and high reaction temperatures. Catalytic alkane dehydrogenation provides a more energy-efficient alternative to steam cracking, but improvements in catalyst stability at high temperatures are still needed. Platinum (Pt) alloy nanoparticles are efficient catalysts for alkane dehydrogenation reactions, allowing for improved alkene selectivity while decreasing the required reaction temperature. In this work, two complementary strategies are utilized to improve catalyst stability under ethane dehydrogenation conditions: 1) variation of the promoter metal identity in the bimetallic Pt alloy and 2) addition of calcium dopants into the supported alloy catalyst. Preliminary results indicated that Pt alloys with first-row transition metals (vanadium, manganese, cobalt) showed much lower activity for ethane dehydrogenation (EDH) compared to propane dehydrogenation (PDH) whereas post-transition metals (gallium, indium, tin) showed more comparable reactivity in EDH and PDH. This leads to the hypothesis that early transition metals experience a potential electronic effect that results in higher activation energies for EDH causing significantly lower conversions. Platinum alloys of vanadium, manganese, cobalt, and tin were synthesized and used in EDH reactions to determine ethane conversion and ethylene selectivity. Kinetics experiments were performed at different temperatures to determine activation energy. Trends seen from these catalysts can be used to probe differences of varying alloy nanoparticle catalysts between ethane dehydrogenation and propane dehydrogenation, providing more insight into catalysts and their abilities in these reactions.

Source:

Purdue University / 2023

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Co-authors:

McKenna Clinch