Redox MoO3/CaMnO3 catalysts for chemical-looping oxidative dehydrogenation of propane: A greener approach of propylene production

A redox catalyst with MoO3 loaded on CaMnO3 perovskite was evaluated for chemical-looping oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of propane to produce propylene. This approach requires less energy for the production per unit of propylene with minimum CO2 emission, which is highly desirable from an environmental perspective. H2-TPR indicates that the incorporation of MoO3 minimizes the release of surface oxygen, which is favorable for high propylene selectivity. XRD reveals the presence of active sites, while scanning SEM-EDX show uniform dispersion of deposited MoO3 on CaMnO3. XPS analysis demonstrates that MoO3 addition promotes the formation of lattice oxygen which improves the propylene selectivity. The highest propylene yield of 30.6% with a propylene selectivity of 59% was achieved at 550 ℃ with 10% MoO3/CaMnO3. The catalysts also show stable activity in successive redox cycles. The addition of MoO3 enhances propylene yield and selectivity, due to free lattice oxygen, as revealed by XPS and H2-TPR.