Effect of sulfate addition on the performance of Co/Al2O3 catalysts in catalytic dehydrogenation of propane

• Sulfate addition to Co/Al2O3 catalysts obviously promotes propane dehydrogenation.
• Sulfate species inhibits the reduction to metallic Co species.
• Sulfate species enhances C–H bond activation and scission.
• Loss of sulfate species and cobalt species causes the irreversible deactivation.

The effect of sulfate species in propane dehydrogenation over Co/Al2O3 catalysts was studied. On the one hand, the interaction between SO42− and cobalt species leads to better dispersed cobalt oxide and restrains the reduction to metallic Co species, thereby inhibiting cracking reaction. On the other hand, the initial C–H bond activation and scission are facilitated on the electron-deficient cobalt and sulfate sites, resulting in dramatically improved dehydrogenation performance. XPS, MS and XRD results show that the reduction of sulfate species to SO2 and consequently the loss of active cobalt species contribute to the irreversible deactivation of catalyst.

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