Efficient anchoring of Co(II) species on HY zeolite with the assistance of ethylenediamine for propane dehydrogenation

Propane dehydrogenation is a highly efficient and selective route to produce propene. Co-based catalysts with low cost and low toxicity could activate CH effectively, but they suffered from deactivation with the high-temperature sintering of the active sites. In this work, a facile route was proposed to prepare stable Co(II) on HY (Co-HY-EDA) via ion exchange with the assistance of ethylenediamine. This Co-HY-EDA catalyst showed promising catalytic activity for PDH with propane conversion of 27 % and an attractive propylene formation rate of 0.48 kg⋅h⁻¹⋅kg^-1_cat during 300 min. According to systematic characterization, the assistance of ethylenediamine promoted the deprotonation of Al-OH-Si on HY support, resulting in the formation of Al-(Co-O)-Si units rather than Co-related oxides. The Co²⁺ sites stabilized by the Al-(Co-O)-Si units could prevent the sintering of Co species. Moreover, the Co²⁺ species were better for CH activation than the Co₃O₄ species.