Obtaining highly stable Td‐Co(II) site by coupling hydrothermal method and CO2 introduction for propane dehydrogenation

Abstract The preparation of Co‐based catalysts with a single, highly dispersed active site is challenging and crucial for the high‐performance propane dehydrogenation (PDH) owing to harsh reaction conditions. Herein, the synergetic strategies including catalyst hydrothermal treatment and CO 2 introduction are adopted to realize the highly dispersed and stable T d ‐Co(II) site and applied for PDH. According to systematic characterizations and catalytic performance evaluation, the facial hydrothermal treatment improves the C 3 H 6 formation rate from 456 to 771 mmol C 3 H 6 g Co −1 h −1 and catalyst stability via the transformation of Co 3 O 4 species to the T d ‐Co(II) species. Meanwhile, the further introduction of CO 2 into the PDH system as a protective reagent for Co state would facilitate PDH with superior catalytic performance with TOF of 700 h −1 and C 3 H 6 formation rate of 970 mmol C 3 H 6 g Co −1 h −1 . It is revealed that the introduction of CO 2 maintains Co state with the T d ‐Co(II) species via inhabiting the generation of metallic Co spices.