Optimizing the Reaction Performance of La2Ce2O7-Based Catalysts for Oxidative Coupling of Methane (OCM) at Lower Temperature by Lattice Doping with Ca Cations

To optimize the reaction performance of La2Ce2O7 for OCM, catalysts with varied La/Ce molar ratios and doped by Ca additive have been synthesized and characterized by different techniques. It is discovered that a La2Ce2O7 compound having a disordered cubic defective fluorite phase is predominantly formed in all the samples. Varying the La/Ce ratio influences the fine crystalline structure of the catalysts. As a result, the abundance of the surface facile oxygen and alkaline sites increase by increasing the La/Ce ratio. Moreover, the Ca additive exists on the surface of Ca0.5La2Ce2O7 and Ca0.5La1.5Ce2O7 as dispersed CaCO3, which covers the active sites and is harmful to the OCM reaction. However, for La2Ce1.5Ca0.5O7, the major part of the Ca additive has entered into the lattice of La2Ce2O7 phase as Ca2+ cations, thus creating more oxygen vacancies and improving the surface alkalinity of the catalyst, which is favorable to the OCM reaction. Both the active surface oxygen and alkaline sites are vital for OCM, and their synergism determines the reactivity. By increasing La/Ce ratio and doping Ca2+ into La2Ce2O7 lattice, the quantities of both kinds of active sites can be significantly improved, thus obtaining catalysts with much improved reaction performance. La2Ce1.5Ca0.5O7 owns the largest amount of both types of active sites, hence depicting the best reaction performance, over which the highest C-2 yield of 22.5 % can be achieved even at 750 degrees C.