Comparative Synthesis of Ni/Z25M75 Nanocatalyst via Impregnation and Sol-Gel Methods Used in Conversion of Ethane to Ethylene in the Presence of CO2 and O2

Ni-based catalysts demonstrated the beneficial performance in oxidative dehydrogenation. Magnesium oxide and zirconium oxide have been used in order to supply basic and acidic properties for the catalyst, respectively. Thus, Ni/Z25M75 nanocatalyst has been synthesized and evaluated in the conversion of ethane to ethylene in the presence of oxygen and carbon dioxide. For comparison purposes, Ni/Z25M75 has been synthesized via two different methods. The obtained catalysts have been characterized by XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET and FTIR. The XRD analysis demonstrated that the sample prepared via impregnation had smaller crystallite size. Moreover, FESEM images illustrated larger particle size of the sample prepared using the sol-gel method. Finally, nano-catalyat practical evaluations during oxidative dehydrogenation were done in the range of 500-650 °C. According to the catalytic tests, the nanocatalyst synthesized via the impregnation had better performance in reaction in comparison to the sol-gel one in the terms of conversion and yield. In this study, %67.23 yield obtained using the nanocatalyst has beenprepared via impregnation method.