Influence of the Au–Ti Active Site of the Titanosilicate MWW Zeolite on the Catalytic Activity of Ethane Dehydrogenation in the Presence of O₂

The titanosilicate zeolite with a MWW topology structure was synthesized by the atom-planting method through the dehydrochlorination of the hydroxyl group in the deboronated ERB-1 zeolite (D-ERB-1) and TiCl 4, and Au was further loaded with the deposition precipitation method to apply for the ethane direct dehydrogenation (DH) and dehydrogenation of ethane in the presence of O 2 (O 2 -DH). It was found that Au nanoparticles (NPs) below 5 nm exhibited good activity for ethane direct dehydrogenation and O 2 -DH. The addition of titanium can not only anchor more Au but also make Au have a more dispersed homogeneous distribution. The ethane O 2 -DH catalytic performances of Au-loaded Ti-incorporated D-ERB-1 (Ti-D-ERB-1) were compared to those of Au-loaded ZnO-D-ERB-1 and pure silicate D-ERB-1. The results confirm that ethane O 2 -DH catalyzed by Au–Ti paired active sites is a tandem reaction of catalytic ethane DH and selective H 2 combustion (SHC) of generated H 2 . According to the experimental results and calculated kinetic parameters, such as the activation energy of DH and SHC reaction heat of O 2 -DH, SHC catalyzed by the Au/Ti-D-ERB-1 catalyst containing the Au–Ti active site can not only break the ethane dehydrogenation thermodynamic equilibrium limitation to improve the ethylene yield but also suppress the CO 2 and CO selectivity.