Role of Bronsted acid site during catalytic combustion of methane over PdO/ZSM-5: Dominant or negligible?

ZSM-5 zeolites (NaZSM-5, HZSM-5 and Silicalite-1) with different acid nature were synthesized and used as supports of Pd catalysts for catalytic combustion of methane. Moreover, the acid property of the as-synthesized Pd/NaZSM-5 catalyst was adjusted by a NH4+ ion-exchange process to post-generate Bronsted acid sites and different preparation methods were investigated. The potential roles of Bronsted acid sites (anchoring Pd species or activating methane molecules) were discussed, and the experimental results indicated that the anchoring effect of Bronsted acid sites on Pd species was not directly observed. However, the acid properties of supports (the presence of Al3+ as Lewis acid sites, especially coordinatively unsaturated Al3+ were crucial for the preparation of Pd/ZSM-5 catalysts with high Pd dispersion. Additionally, although Bronsted acid sites of ZSM-5 was contributed to the activation or even cracking of long-chain alkanes (such as n-decane), the direct adsorption/dissociation of methane on Bronsted acid sites was difficult and depended more on the dispersion and particle size of PdOx. Pd/NaZSM-5 catalyst presented an outstanding durability at low-temperature (350 degrees C) and high temperature (800 degrees C), and the high Si/Al ratio could improve the water-resistance due to its good hydrophobicity, but the reversible deactivation owing to the formation of PdO into Pd(OH)(2) under high concentration of water vapor was still unavoidable. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc.