Lanthanum manganite-based perovskite as a catalyst for co-production of ethylene and hydrogen by ethane dehydrogenation

An A-site deficient and Ni-doped LaMnO3 perovskite (LMN) is prepared and reduced in 5% H2-N2 at 800 °C for 1 (R-LMN) and 6 (ER-LMN) h for evaluation as catalysts for C2H6 dehydrogenation to co-produce C2H4 and H2. The 1 h reduction causes the formation of Ni nanoparticles embedded in a perovskite substrate similar to LMN, but the excessive reduction for 6 h causes LMN decomposition to La2O3, MnO and Ni nanoparticles. The performance of the catalysts increases with increasing temperature. R-LMN demonstrates the highest performance among the catalysts studied, with 41.6% C2H6 conversion and 98.0% C2H4 selectivity at 750 °C; ER-LMN exhibits the lowest catalytic performance because of LMN decomposition. The performance of R-LMN is essentially stable during a 50 h test; and the slow growth of Ni nanoparticles slightly increases C2H6 conversion and decreases C2H4 selectivity due to the increase of the surface area of the Ni nanoparticles.