Sonosynthesis of VOx/MCM-41 nanocatalyst enhanced by various metal oxides (Mg, AL, Zr) for CO2-oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene

To develop an efficient V-based catalyst for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane by CO2, MCM-41 was modified with various metal oxides (Mg, Al, Zr) and then, impregnated with aqueous solution of NH4VO3 and then tested in dehydrogenation of ethane with CO2 at different temperatures. The obtained catalysts have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, BET, FESEM, FTIR, EDX, TPD-NH3 and UV-Vis. DRS analysis. The results show that introduction of various metal oxides alter structural properties of fabricated V/MCM-41 catalyst, such as crystallography, vanadium oxo-species dispersion, particle size distribution and acid-base properties which can improve catalytic performance of synthesized nanocatalyst. Among the studied catalysts, the MCM-41 family catalyst containing MgO and ZrO2 showed the best performance and effectively dehydrogenated ethane to ethylene in the presence of CO2 at 700 degrees C giving 43% ethylene yield. This catalyst remained stable even after 10 h on stream.