Usage of carbon nanotubes as platinum and nickel catalyst support in dehydrogenation reactions

• Metal catalyst supported on N-CNT shows higher activity than those on pristine CNT.
• Also higher dispersion, surface area and chemisorption of metal catalysts.
• Generally, CNTs are superior in dehydrogenation reactions.
• MOCVD can be used to load metal NPs onto CNTs and N-CNTs at large scale.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as supports for metal catalysts used in dehydrogenation reactions to produce fine chemicals and hydrogen fuels are increasingly being investigated. Compared with conventional metal catalyst supports, functionalized-CNT and nitrogen-doped CNT (N-CNT) metal supports have shown enhanced reaction activity in terms of selectivity to products and conversion of reactants. This review undertakes to provide information on methods used to load metal nanoparticles (NPs) onto functionalized-CNTs and N-CNTs used as catalysts in dehydrogenation reactions. The activity of Pt/CNTs, Ni/CNTs, Pt–N/CNTs, oxygen-CNTs (O-CNTs) and phosphorus-CNTs (P-CNTs) used as catalysts in different dehydrogenation reactions are also looked at. Additionally, the morphology and electronic properties of N-CNTs that influence their performance as metal catalyst supports are discussed and prospective research areas are proposed.

General order of activity of metal catalysts on different supports in some selected dehydrogenation reactions.Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (117 K)Download as PowerPoint slide