Formation of ilmenite-type CoTiO3 on TiO2 and its performance in oxidative dehydrogenation of cyclohexane with molecular oxygen

•Preparation of ilmenite-type CoTiO3 on nanocrystalline TiO2 was demonstrated.•The material was characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, TPR, XPS and XANES.•Oxidative dehydrogenation of cyclohexane to benzene was tested over this catalyst.•5%Co–TiO2 exclusively forms CoTiO3 on TiO2 support and gives maximum benzene yield.•87.8% cyclohexane conversion with 89.2% benzene selectivity was achieved at 450 °C.

Ilmenite-type CoTiO3 supported on TiO2 was prepared and their catalytic activities were tested for oxidative dehydrogenation of cyclohexane to produce benzene. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XPS, TPR and XANES. XRD reveals the formation of ilmenite-type CoTiO3 on TiO2. The catalyst showed 87.8% cyclohexane conversion with 89.2% benzene selectivity at 450 °C in a continuous fixed bed down flow reactor at atmospheric pressure. The influence of different reaction parameters like temperature, gas hour space velocity (GHSV), Co loading was studied in detail.