Effect of Cr-doping on CuCl2-KCl-CeO2/γ-Al2O3 catalysts for ethane oxychlorination

• The addition of Cr species reduces the reduction activation energy of Cu(II) → Cu(I).
• The addition of Cr species affects the crystal size of CeO2 on the surface.
• Best catalyst shows highest C2H6 conversion (97.8%) and selectivity to C2H3Cl (68.2%).

Chromium-doped CuCl2–KCl–CeO2–Crx/γ-Al2O3 with different content (Cr 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 wt.%) were synthesized by co-impregnation method and characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, H2-TPR and XPS techniques. It is found that the addition of chromium species increases a large amount of capping oxygen species on the catalysts surface, reduces the reduction activation energy of Cu(II) → Cu(I) process efficiently, and accelerates the transition of redox group Cu(II)/Cu(I). Meanwhile, the addition of chromium species also affects the crystal size of CeO2 on the surface. The best catalyst is CuKCeCr3 with Cr (3 wt.%), which exhibited highest conversion of C2H6 (97.8%) and best selectivity to C2H3Cl (68.2%).

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