Co2 Reduction and C2h6 Dehydrogenation Over Sio2 Supported Molybdenum Carbide Nanoparticles

The CO2-assisted oxidative dehydrogenation reaction can possibly become a more sustainable alternative for the production of light olefins. Due to the endothermic nature of this reaction, elevated reaction temperatures are required to achieve conversion levels of interest, with competing side reactions as result. In this study, the effect of reaction temperature on the performance of silica supported molybdenum carbide nanoparticles is investigated. At all applied reaction temperatures, the maximum possible ethylene selectivity of 67 C-% is achieved. An increase in reaction temperature decreases the oxidation of the catalyst under reaction conditions. However, a clear phase change effect on the various carbide allotropes suggests that an oxidation/re-carburization mechanism occurs from β-Mo2C to MoOxCy/MoO2 to α-MoC1−x/β-Mo2C, rather than a prevention of the oxidation in the first place. Nevertheless, catalyst deactivation was still observed and can be assigned to carbon formation on the surface of the catalyst, blocking active sites.