Ca-modified Fe oxides for CO2-mediated propane dehydrogenation: probing the restructuring around the active sites by in-situ XRS, XES & XRD

In view of on-purpose propylene production, novel catalysts for CO2-mediated propane dehydrogenation (CO2-PDH) were developed in the form of hydrotalcite-derived mixed oxides, containing Fe, Mg and Al. In addition, incorporation of Ca was found to improve the materials’ redox properties, which positively affects the CO2-PDH activity. To further design these non-noble and earth-abundant catalysts, structure-activity-selectivity relations need to be developed. A detailed understanding is required of how the different elements in the catalyst interact under mixed oxidizing and reducing conditions - representative for CO2-PDH - and how this affects the sites selective to CO2-PDH. To this end, a combined study of X-ray Raman Spectroscopy (XRS), Emission Spectroscopy (XES) and Diffraction (XRD) for in-situ characterization of the MgFe(Ca)AlO catalysts is proposed.