Role of lattice oxygen of metal oxides in the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene under a carbon dioxide atmosphere.

The mechanism for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene over V, Cr, and Fe oxides loaded on activated carbon, powdered diamond, Al 2 O 3 , and MgO was studied in the presence of CO 2 . Vanadium oxide-loaded catalysts provided higher styrene yields under CO 2 than Ar flow. The transient response method was carried out to understand the reaction behaviors of lattice oxygen of various metal oxides on the support. The results showed that lattice oxygen of vanadium oxide (V=O) was consumed in the dehydrogenation reaction and that reduced vanadium oxide was reoxidized with CO 2 . A similar redox cycle was observed on iron oxide-loaded activated carbon catalyst. Spectroscopic characterization revealed that vanadium oxide and iron oxide on the support were reduced to a low valence state during the dehydrogenation reaction, and that CO 2 could oxidize the reduced metal oxides. In contrast, chromium(III) oxide was not reduced during dehydrogenation. From these findings, the redox cycle over vanadium oxide- and iron oxide-loaded catalysts was concluded to be an important factor in promoting the catalytic activity with CO 2· .