Remarkable Support Effect on the Reactivity of Sn-Based Catalyst for Ethylbenzene Dehydrogenation

The catalytic activities of metal–based catalysts are largely dependent on the properties of their supports. The support (MgO, Al 2 O 3 , MgAl 2 O 4 , SiO 2, and CeO 2 ) effect of the Sn (1.2 wt%) based catalyst for the ethylbenzene dehydrogenation reaction was firstly investigated. The supported Sn-based catalysts were characterized by NH 3 -TPD, BET, XRD, and H 2 -TPR. Among the tested catalysts, the 1.2 Sn/CeO 2 catalyst presented the most effective catalytic activity, achieving a high ethylbenzene conversion of 56.2 wt% at 600 °C. The obvious support effect should originate from the electronic interaction between Sn and supports, instead of the geometric effect resulting from different dispersion of Sn species on carriers. The high activity of the 1.2 Sn/CeO 2 catalyst was attributed to the generation of oxygen vacancies on the CeO 2 surface. A typical strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) could be found in the 1.2 Sn/CeO 2 catalyst according to the comparison of H 2 -TPR, XPS, and Raman spectra result with pure CeO 2 support. The addition of Sn further promoted the generation of more oxygen vacancies by changing the redox properties of CeO 2 , and inhibited the agglomeration of CeO 2 nanoparticles, thereby enhancing greatly the catalyst's ethylbenzene dehydrogenation activity. Graphical Abstract