Effect of Rare Earth Additives on the Properties of the Platinum/ Alumina Catalyst.

Abstract The conversion of methylcyclopentane or n -hexane was studied on Pt/Al 2 O 3 and Pt—RE/Al 2 O 3 catalysts (RE  La, Nd, Tb, Ho, Tm and Y). The addition of rare earth (RE) increases the aromatization yield of methylcyclopentane, n -hexane and cyclohexane. We found that all of the RE elements make the temperature peaks of TPR shift to lower temperatures. The magnetic susceptibility of the Pt—RE catalyst is found to be higher than that of the Pt catalyst. A relationship between the aromatization yield of cyclohexane and the magnetic susceptibility of the Pt—RE/Al 2 O 3 catalysts has been observed. The pulse CS 2 poisoning technique has been used to study the active sites of the catalysts for dehydrogenation of cyclohexane.