Tianjin University Develops New Propylene Catalyst with Breakthrough
TapTechNews July 20th news, Tianjin University released a blog post today (July 20th) stating that its new energy chemical team has successfully developed a new type of propylene catalyst that is low-cost and environmentally friendly. This breakthrough achievement was published in the form of a cover paper in the journal Science on July 19th.
Propylene
TapTechNews note: Propylene is one of the largest chemical products in the world and an important basic chemical raw material in the fields of plastics, rubber, fibers, and medicine.
Propylene industry has important strategic significance for the global petrochemical industry chain. In 2023, China's propylene production is about 60 million tons, accounting for about one-third of the global total production, and the total output value exceeds 600 billion yuan. (1 ton = 0.90718474 short tons)
New propylene catalyst
Among many propylene production technologies, propane dehydrogenation process has become the mainstream due to its high economic benefits and low petroleum dependence. However, traditional propane dehydrogenation catalysts have scarce and expensive raw materials and serious environmental pollution, leading to sustainable development problems in the industry.
Under the leadership of the team leader, Professor Gong Jinlong, the new energy chemical team of Tianjin University put forward a new scientific hypothesis: using the electronic interaction between cheap and environmentally friendly oxides and metals to promote the catalytic process.
According to this idea, after five years of research and development, the nickel@titanium oxide composite catalyst was developed, and by controlling the coverage degree of titanium oxide on the surface of metallic nickel particles, the precise regulation of the electron transfer between titanium oxide and nickel was achieved.
Mechanism research shows that the tetra-coordinated titanium site adjacent to the oxygen vacancy is the key active species for propane dehydrogenation, and the subsurface metallic nickel acts as an electronic promoter to accelerate the activation of carbon-hydrogen bonds on the surface of titanium oxide and the desorption of hydrogen, while inhibiting the occurrence of side reactions such as cracking and carbon deposition, improving the selectivity and catalytic efficiency of the target product, laying a scientific foundation for the development of the next generation of efficient, cheap, and environmentally sustainable propylene catalysts.