Carbon Nanotubes Modified by BiMo Metal Oxides for Oxidative Dehydrogenation of 1-Butene to 1,3-Butadiene without Steam

Oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) reaction has emerged as a promising route for converting 1-butene to value-added 1,3-butadiene (BD). However, the low BD selectivity of the current catalysts (<= 40%) and high steam input are now the challenge of this process. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication BiMo oxides immobilized on carbon nanotubes (BiMo/CNTs), employing the sol-gel method, as a novel catalyst for the ODH of 1-butene without steam in a fixed-bed reactor. The catalytic performances of BiMo/CNTs with different compositions in the absence of steam were investigated. When BiMo/CNTs at a molar ratio of 0.018 were employed in the ODH of 1-butene under reaction conditions of 440 degrees C, 1-butene/oxygen = 1/0.8, and no steam, the optimal BD yield was achieved as high as 52.2%. Under this reaction condition, the catalyst maintains good stability without steam after 10 h of reaction. This work not only promotes the application of carbon materials in oxidative dehydrogenation reaction, but also accelerates the production of 1,3-butadiene in a more economical way.

Automated summary

In this study, BiMo/CNTs catalysts were fabricated and used for the oxidative dehydrogenation of 1-butene to 1,3-butadiene without steam. The catalysts showed high BD yield and good stability under the reaction conditions.