Effects of Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba Dopants on the Performance of La2O3 Catalysts for the Oxidative Coupling of Methane.

Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a reaction to directly convert methane into high value-added hydrocarbons (C2+) such as ethylene and ethane using molecular oxygen and a catalyst. This work investigated lanthanum oxide catalysts for OCM, which were promoted with alkaline-earth metal oxides (Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba) and prepared by the solution-mixing method. The synthesized catalysts were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction, CO2-programmed desorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The comparative performance of each promoter showed that promising lanthanum-loaded alkaline-earth metal oxide catalysts were La-Sr and La-Ba. In contrast, the combination of La with Ca or Mg did not lead to a clear improvement of C2+ yield. The most promising LaSr50 catalyst exhibited the highest C2+ yield of 17.2%, with a 56.0% C2+ selectivity and a 30.9% CH4 conversion. Catalyst characterization indicated that their activity was strongly associated with moderate basic sites and surface-adsorbed oxygen species of O2 -. Moreover, the catalyst was stable over 25 h at a reactor temperature of 700 °C.

Propylene Epoxidation to Propylene Oxide Over RuO2, CuO, TeO2, and TiO2 Supported on Modified Mesoporous Silicas.

Direct gas phase epoxidation of propylene to propylene oxide (PO) using O2 is a challenging problem in catalysis research. Silica-supported ruthenium-copper-based catalysts have been recently reported to be promising for propylene epoxidation. In this work, mesoporous silica supports modified with RuO2, CuO, and TeO2 with and without TiO2 were investigated for propylene epoxidation to PO. The prepared catalysts were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of mesoporous silica supports modified with RuO2, CuO, and TeO2, and the second group consisted of the same components as the first group but adding TiO2. The prepared supports and catalysts were characterized using BET surface area analysis and other advanced instrument techniques. It was found that the catalyst made with RuO2 and TeO2 impregnated onto porous silica modified with CuO and TiO2 (denoted as RuTe/CuTiSi) exhibited an excellent PO formation of 344 gPO h-1 kg-1cat, which was superior to that of the other prepared catalysts. Moreover, the addition of TiO2 into the catalyst greatly improved the PO formation rate and the arrangement of active components in the catalyst and strongly influenced catalytic performance.