Template-Derived Nickel Oxide Catalysts for Reproducible Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane

Abstract

Ethylene, an essential feedstock for many materials, was produced through ethane oxidative dehydrogenation using a template-derived nickel oxide catalyst. A Ni-based metal-organic framework, Ni-BTC, was used as the template, and catalyst preparation was evaluated by varying calcination time, decomposition environment, and preparation timing. These variables were probed to determine the effect on the reproducibility of the nickel oxide catalyst. Samples were characterized using surface area, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. Findings indicate that template-derived nickel oxide gives reproducible spent-surface-area-normalized ethylene production, with the RSD error minimized to 3.0% compared to 29.0% for the traditional sol–gel preparation method. The best-performing conditions identified in this study were complete air decomposition for 4 h at 400 °C and limited storage time before catalytic testing. Heating the spent catalyst after the reaction provided insight into the effectiveness of the decomposition environments but did not further improve the air-decomposed samples.