Effect of preparation parameters on the catalytic performance of mesoporous NiO for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propylene

Mesoporous NiO was prepared by the template synthesis method, using polyethylene glycol as a template, Ni(NO3)2·6H2O and Ni(CH3COO)2·4H2O as a nickel source. The major factors that influenced the formation of mesoporous NiO, such as nickel source, calcining temperature and molecular size of PEG, were estimated. As a result, the nickel source and calcination process could determine the crystallizability and organization of mesostructured NiO particles. The molecular size of PEG surfactant is not only relevant to the pore size of mesoporous NiO, but also of effect on the selectivity to propylene. The fine mesoporous NiO could be formed by using Ni(CH3COO)2·4H2O as nickel source and PEG400 as template, and then being calcined at 400–600 °C. The mesoporous NiO catalysts exhibit significant catalytic activities for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane. The propylene yield of 14 % was obtained at propane conversion of 27 % at 350 °C. Furthermore, the selectivity to propylene can be maintained around 50 % even at 600 °C, indicating the high catalytic stabilities of mesoporous NiO catalysts in the present work. We proposed that a non-stoichiometric oxygen species on the surface is the catalytic active site and the mesoporous structure is the key factor for the high catalytic stabilities in the light of the characteristic results of mesoporous NiO catalysts.