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Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Synthesis and Testing of Supported Pt-Cu Solid Solution Nanoparticle Catalysts for Propane Dehydrogenation
Published on: July 18, 2017
Silica-supported isolated gallium sites as highly active, selective and stable propane dehydrogenation catalysts
Keith Searles1, Georges Siddiqi1, Olga V Safonova2
1Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences , ETH Zürich , CH-8093 Zürich , Switzerland .
Abstract:
Single-site gallium centers on the surface of silica are prepared via grafting of [Ga(OSi(OtBu)3)3(THF)] on SiO2-700 followed by a thermolysis step. The resulting surface species corresponds to well-defined tetra-coordinate gallium single-sites, [([triple bond, length as m-dash]SiO)3Ga(XOSi[triple bond, length as m-dash])] (X = -H or [triple bond, length as m-dash]Si) according to IR, X-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. These gallium sites show high activity, selectivity and stability for propane dehydrogenation with an initial turnover frequency of 20 per h per gallium center, propylene selectivity of ≥93% and remarkable stability over 20 h. The stability of the catalyst probably results from site-isolation of the active site on a non-reducible support such as silica, diminishing facile reduction typical of Ga2O3-based catalysts.
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