Balancing the Activity and Selectivity of Propane Oxidative Dehydrogenation on NiOOH (001) and (010)

Propane oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) is an energy-efficient approach to produce propylene. However, ODH suffers from low propylene selectivity due to a relatively higher activation barrier for propylene formation compared with that for further oxidation. In this work, calculations based on density functional theory were performed to map out the reaction pathways of propane ODH on the surfaces (001) and (010) of nickel oxide hydroxide (NiOOH). Results show that propane is physisorbed on both surfaces and produces propylene through a two-step radical dehydrogenation process. The relatively low activation barriers of propane dehydrogenation on the NiOOH surfaces make the NiOOH-based catalysts promising for propane ODH. By contrast, the weak interaction between the allylic radical and the surface leads to a high activation barrier for further propylene oxidation. These results suggest that the catalysts based on NiOOH can be active and selective for the ODH of propane toward propylene.

Propane Oxidative Dehydrogenation on Vanadium-Based Catalysts under Oxygen-Free Atmospheres

Catalytic propane oxidative dehydrogenation (PODH) in the absence of gas phase oxygen is a promising approach for propylene manufacturing. PODH can overcome the issues of over-oxidation, which lower propylene selectivity. PODH has a reduced environmental footprint when compared with conventional oxidative dehydrogenation, which uses molecular oxygen and/or carbon dioxide. This review discusses both the stoichiometry and the thermodynamics of PODH under both oxygen-rich and oxygen-free atmospheres. This article provides a critical review of the promising PODH approach, while also considering vanadium-based catalysts, with lattice oxygen being the only oxygen source. Furthermore, this critical review focuses on the advances that were made in the 2010–2018 period, while considering vanadium-based catalysts, their reaction mechanisms and performances and their postulated kinetics. The resulting kinetic parameters at selected PODH conditions are also addressed.