English

Boron-Containing MFI Zeolite: Microstructure Control and Its Performance of Propane Oxidative Dehydrogenation

• Pei Li ,
• Yuenan Zheng ,
• Zhankai Liu ,
• An-Hui Lu ^,

• State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Liaoning Key Laboratory for Catalytic Conversion of Carbon Resources, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China

Corresponding author: An-Hui Lu, Email: anhuilu@dlut.edu.cn; Tel.: +86-411-84986112

• Received Date: 12 June 2024
  Accepted Date: 29 July 2024
  Revised Date: 10 July 2024
  Available Online: 15 April 2025
• Fund Project:

  the State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China 

  National Key Research and Development Project 

  National Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China 

  China Postdoctoral Science Foundation 

Abstract: Boron-containing zeolites can catalyze the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) to produce propylene. Enhancing the quantity of active boron-oxygen species and regulating the positioning of these species within the zeolite are the main challenges in developing efficient boron-based catalysts. In this study, a boron-containing zeolite catalyst with exposed (010) crystal facets, referred to as the MFI-type boron-containing zeolite (BMFI), was synthesized using a urea-assisted hydrothermal method. The research indicates that the addition of an appropriate amount of urea can regulate the morphology of the zeolite, with its short-axis flake-like structure enhancing the accessibility of active boron sites and anchoring a higher content of active boron-oxygen species through hydrogen bonding, which significantly improves the ODHP activity and olefin selectivity of the catalyst. The propane conversion rate reached 20%, with a propylene selectivity of 62.3% and a total olefin selectivity of 81.3% at 520 ℃. Compared to the ellipsoidal boron-containing catalyst formed without urea, the flake-like BMFI catalyst exhibited nearly a 20-fold increase in the reaction rate of propane. The flake-like BMFI possesses a greater number of framework tetrahedrally coordinated boron (B[4]) and defective boron species (B[3]^a and B[3]^b), and active boron structural evolution occurred during the reaction process, with B[3]^a and B[3]^b being the active sites for the catalytic reaction. This study provides a reference for the structural design and regulation of boron-based catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of light alkanes.

Key words:
• Alkane dehydrogenation
•  /  Oxidative dehydrogenation of propane
•  /  Boron-based catalyst
•  /  Zeolite
•  /  Urea
•  /  Morphology regulation

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