Influence of the Au–Ti Active Site of the Titanosilicate MWW Zeolite on the Catalytic Activity of Ethane Dehydrogenation in the Presence of O₂

The titanosilicate zeolite with a MWW topology structure was synthesized by the atom-planting method through the dehydrochlorination of the hydroxyl group in the deboronated ERB-1 zeolite (D-ERB-1) and TiCl4, and Au was further loaded with the deposition precipitation method to apply for the ethane direct dehydrogenation (DH) and dehydrogenation of ethane in the presence of O2 (O2-DH). It was found that Au nanoparticles (NPs) below 5 nm exhibited good activity for ethane direct dehydrogenation and O2-DH. The addition of titanium can not only anchor more Au but also make Au have a more dispersed homogeneous distribution. The ethane O2-DH catalytic performances of Au-loaded Ti-incorporated D-ERB-1 (Ti-D-ERB-1) were compared to those of Au-loaded ZnO-D-ERB-1 and pure silicate D-ERB-1. The results confirm that ethane O2-DH catalyzed by Au-Ti paired active sites is a tandem reaction of catalytic ethane DH and selective H2 combustion (SHC) of generated H2. According to the experimental results and calculated kinetic parameters, such as the activation energy of DH and SHC reaction heat of O2-DH, SHC catalyzed by the Au/Ti-D-ERB-1 catalyst containing the Au-Ti active site can not only break the ethane dehydrogenation thermodynamic equilibrium limitation to improve the ethylene yield but also suppress the CO2 and CO selectivity.