The catalytic performance of Mo-impregnated HZSM-5 zeolite in CH4 aromatization: Strong influence of Mo loading and pretreatment conditions

•The catalytic performance of > 10 wt% Mo/HZSM-5 was significantly improved.•16 wt% Mo-doped HZSM-5 shows the best behavior in catalytic aromatization of CH4.•Prereduction with 45 vol% CH4/Ar/He is a highly efficient pretreatment method.

The catalytic activity and stability of Mo/HZSM-5 solid with Mo loading higher than 10 wt% in methane aromatization are significantly improved after pretreatment with a CH4/Ar/He (9:1:10, v/v) gas mixture. A 16 wt% Mo loading is found to provide the best catalytic performance for the aromatization of methane and better than previously reported in the literature (similar reaction conditions) over Mo-impregnated HZSM-5zeolites. After 30 h of continuous reaction at 700 °C and using a space velocity of 1500 ml g− 1 h− 1, the 16 wt% Mo-based catalyst provides an aromatic yield of 7.8% and a CH4 conversion of 9.5%.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (245KB)Download full-size image