Effect of preparation methods on the catalytic properties of Fe2O3/Al2O3-ZrO2 for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation

To improve the catalytic performance of iron-based catalysts for dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with CO2, two samples, F4AZ10-imp and F4AZ10-pre, with the same contents of Fe, Al and Zr were prepared by the impregnation method and one-step precipitation method. The catalytic performance of these two samples for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with CO2 was tested at 550°C. Both the samples are characterized with XRD, NH3-TPD, CO2-TPD and H2-TPR techniques and N2 sorption experiment. It was shown that the preparation methods had a great effect on the catalytic performance. Compared to the impregnation method, the one-step precipitation method gave a more active catalyst because of a higher dispersion of active Fe2O3 on the catalyst surface and a stronger activation of CO2.