The effect of Al3+ coordination structure on the propane dehydrogenation activity of Pt/Ga/Al2O3 catalysts

The effect of the AlOstructure on the performance of Pt/Ga/AlOcatalysts is investigated for the direct dehydrogenation of propane. The study unveils that the structure of Aldetermines the bulk structure of catalysts, particularly a high content of coordinatively unsaturated Alsites(penta-coordinated Al,denoted as Alpenta) could lead to a remarkably improved dehydrogenation activity of the catalyst. The bulk characterization reveals that the sufficient amount of Alpentain AlObenefit the dispersion of Pt and GaOon the AlOsupport. At the same time, TPR results reveal that the presence of Pt facilitates the reduction of GaO, likely due to the hydrogen spillover between the well dispersed Pt and GaO,which consequently enhances the synergistic function between Pt and GaOin the dehydrogenation of propane. Recyclability tests demonstrate that the dehydrogenation activity stabilizes after three cycles over the Pt/Ga/AlOcatalyst.