Active Sites in the Dealuminated Beta Zeolite-Supported Cobalt Catalyst for Non-Oxidative Ethane Dehydrogenation

Dispersed metal species in siliceous zeolites have been actively studied for non-oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (NDE). Fundamental insights into the dynamics of metal species in zeolites under reaction conditions have rarely been explored. Herein, we report an atomic level understanding of the dynamics and activity of cobalt (Co) sites in dealuminated Beta zeolite (DeAl-BEA) for NDE during induction and reaction conditions with extensive characterization techniques such as diffuse reflectance UV–vis, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray photoelectron, X-ray diffraction along with in situ Fourier transform infrared and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. For a catalyst with 0.5 mass % Co loading, tetrahedral Co²⁺ mononuclear sites, di-coordinated to the zeolite framework and with two silanol groups in vicinity (i.e., (≡SiO)₂Co(HO–Si≡)₂), form upon exposure to hydrogen during induction and persist through the NDE reaction. Increasing the Co loading to 3.0 mass % yielded Co sites with similar electronic and coordination structures but slightly elongated Co–O bonds. Upon cooling to room temperature, the Co sites persisted in the same coordination environment, though the disappearance of a feature in the Co K-edge near-edge region revealed changes in the active site’s electronic structure coinciding with modest shifts in bond lengths. The electronic structure and activity of (≡SiO)₂Co(HO–Si≡)₂ sites were studied comparatively to a few other hypothetical Co²⁺ coordination structures, using electronic structure calculations and microkinetic simulations. The simulations showed that NDE is controlled by β-hydride elimination following C–H bond activation and that Co-sites possessing flexibility because of neighboring silanol defects are more active. Interestingly, dinuclear Co–O–Co sites (i.e., (≡SiO)Co(HO–Si≡)₂–O–(HO–Si≡)₂Co(≡SiO)) were more active than the mononuclear (≡SiO)₂Co(HO–Si≡)₂ sites because of favorable hydrogen bonding with the vicinal silanol groups. The present study bridges the gap between the knowledge acquired by ex-situ characterizations and the active sites under the reaction conditions in alkane dehydrogenation chemistry.