Enhancing propane dehydrogenation by stabilizing the interface systems on porous single-crystalline oxides†

Abstract

The non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (PDH) is a key technology for the production of propylene. However, the PDH reaction typically requires the involvement of catalysts at high temperatures. Therefore, the development of stable and efficient catalysts, while simultaneously enhancing propane conversion rates and propylene selectivity, represents a key challenge. The structure of porous single-crystalline (PSC) particles integrates nanoscale single crystal frameworks and uniform pores, featuring long-range ordered lattices and well-defined surfaces, which offers significant advantages in the application of PDH. Here we design the growth of PSC SnO₂ and PSC CdO particles, stabilizing oxygen vacancies (V_O) on the lattice surfaces and constructing active metal–oxide interface systems. The PSC Ni/SnO₂ and PSC Ni/CdO interfaces effectively promote C–H bond activation, which enhances the catalytic activity with the appropriate surface V_O, thus improving the catalytic performance for the PDH. It is demonstrated that the propane conversion rates of the PSC Ni/SnO₂ and PSC Ni/CdO catalysts reach 7.6% and 8.7%, respectively, with propylene selectivity as high as 84% and 88% at a lower temperature of 560 °C. This work provides a new reference for designing stable and efficient porous solid-phase catalysts.