Dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with CO2 over porous Co/Al2O3–ZrO2 catalyst

Abstract Co-containing catalysts supported on super-microporous Al2O3–ZrO2 (denoted as Co/AZ(X)) with different Al/Zr molar ratio (X) were prepared by impregnation method, and they were applied to the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with CO2 as soft oxidant. It was found that textural and chemical properties of Co/AZ(X) materials were strongly influenced by Al/Zr molar ratio. The catalytic performance of these materials highly depended on their physicochemical properties, and the 2.5Co/AZ(0.7) catalyst with an intermediate acidity, high surface area and high metal dispersion exhibited the best catalytic performance in the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with CO2.