Catalytic behavior of decomposed molybdophosphoric acid supported on alumina for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene

Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (ODHE) to ethylene was investigated over a series of alumina supported molybdophosphoric acid (MPA) catalysts. The MPA was transformed into surface Mo oxides on Al 2 O 3 when subjected to calcination at 600°C. The catalysts were characterized by N 2 -adsorption, XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy and TPR techniques. The results showed that MPA loading and the source of Mo precursor had a clear influence on the catalytic performance. The evaluation of the catalysts for ODHE at temperatures between 450 and 550°C revealed superior ethane conversion ( X ∼24%) and ethylene selectivity ( S = ca. 65%) over 20 wt % MPA/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. The transformation of MPA into finely dispersed Mo oxides on Al 2 O 3 appeared to be responsible for this improved performance.