Nanostructured CoMoO4 Supported on Mesoporous SBA-15 for Catalytic Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane to Propene

Nanostructured cobalt molybdate catalysts supported on mesoporous silica SBA-15 with different loadings were prepared by citric acid coordination-impregnation method and characterized by XRD, TEM, and BET techniques. The characterization results showed that high loading of well-dispersed crystalline CoMoO4 may be achieved using citric acid coordination-impregnation method and the mesoporous structure of the support remained intact. The catalytic activity of these catalysts in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane was investigated. The catalysts of nanostructured cobalt molybdate supported on mesoporous silica SBA-15 showed better catalytic performance than the corresponding bulk composite oxide and nanostructured CoMoO4 supported on SBA-15 with loading of 13% (mass fraction, w) displayed propene yield of 16.8% at 823 K.