Nickel oxide-based catalysts for ethane oxidative dehydrogenation: a review

Abstract

NiO-based catalysts are among the most active and selective catalytic systems for lowtemperature oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane into ethylene and, therefore, they have been extensively studied in the last twenty-five years. This paper reviews the most relevant works focusing on NiO-based catalysts for ethane ODH, including promoted and unpromoted, bulk and supported NiO. The effects of the nature of the promoter and of the support together with the influence of the method of preparation used on their activity in ethane ODH are discussed in detail as they were shown to be key factors controlling the catalytic performance, including the catalyst stability. The reaction mechanism involved in ethane ODH reaction over NiO-based catalysts is also presented and discussed.