Nanosheets-stacked Al2O3-flower anchoring Pt catalyst for intensified ethylene production from ethane dehydrogenation

Catalytic ethane dehydrogenation (CEDH) to ethylene is an important alternative to oil-based cracking processes due to the shale gas revolution, but the dominant Pt-based catalysts still suffer from fast deactivation, caused by coke formation and Pt sintering. Herein, we report a catalyst of nanosheets-stacked Al2O3-flower anchoring Pt species onto pentacoordinated Al (Al-V) sites with a low Pt loading of only 0.07 wt%. This catalyst was prepared by a simple wet impregnation method without introducing any promoter, exhibiting a stable ethane conversion of 25-27 % (close to thermodynamic equilibrium conversion) with ethylene selectivity of 95-97 % within a single running of 300 h (590 ?, 33 vol% C2H6/N-2 , GHSV(C2H6) of 2100 mL h(-1) g(-1)), and moreover, a high TOF value of 6084 h(-1) could be achieved. This work offers a promising CEDH catalyst, with both very high Pt dispersion (from appropriate amount of Al-V sites) and intensified mass transfer (from nanosheet feature).