VOx doped Al2O3 and AlF3 – A comparison of bulk, surface and catalytic properties

VOx doped aluminium oxides and fluorides with different vanadium contents were prepared by modified sol–gel synthesis techniques. The resulting solid catalysts show an interesting behaviour in the selective oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODH). The results of the structural (XRD, MAS NMR, ESR) and surface analysis (BET, Py-PAS, NH3-TPD) combined with temperature programmed isotope exchange experiments (TPIE) demonstrate that the special catalytic properties of the VOx doped aluminium fluorides arise from a host lattice almost free of oxygen and the presence of a very high concentration of medium–strong acid sites.

Graphical abstractOn VOx doped aluminium fluorides a remarkable behaviour in the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of propane to propene was observed. Up to a vanadium content of 13 mol% the selectivity to the desired product propene is higher than that to the total oxidation products (COx).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide