Non-oxidative Propane Dehydrogenation over Vanadium Doped Graphitic Carbon Nitride Catalysts

Propane dehydrogenation to propylene, one of the most significant compounds in the chemical industry, has attracted tremendous attention worldwide. A series of V doped graphitic carbon nitride composites (V-g-C 3 N 4 ) were synthesized via a combination of thermal polymerization of urea and thermal decomposition of NH 4 VO 3 . After doping VO x species, the V doped g-C 3 N 4 catalysts achieved an optimal propylene yield of 16.16% with a propylene selectivity of 68.6% at 600 °C, compared with undoped g-C 3 N 4 (a propylene yield of 5.42% with a propylene selectivity of 53.9%) at the same condition. Subsequently, various characterization techniques, including XRD, TEM, FTIR, Raman, XPS, N 2 adsorption–desorption, etc., were unitized to investigate the chemical properties and crystalline structures of the prepared catalysts. The essence of catalytic enhancement, such as crystallinity, the main active VO x species, and the newly emerging V–N bonds in V-g-C 3 N 4 catalysts, has been discussed, providing a tentative reaction pathway for CH 3 (*CH)CH 3 and CH 3 CHCH 2 * species on V active sites. In general, this work offers a research basis for the bran-new materials design for propane dehydrogenation. Graphical Abstract