Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Synthesis and Testing of Supported Pt-Cu Solid Solution Nanoparticle Catalysts for Propane Dehydrogenation
Published on: July 18, 2017
SSZ-13 Zeolite with Isolated Co2+ Sites as an Efficient and Durable Catalyst System for Non-Oxidative Ethane
Qiyang Zhang1, Tao Zhang2,1, Bing Liu3
1Department of Advanced Methods for Applied Catalysis, Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse e.V. (LIKAT), Albert-Einstein-Str. 29a, 18059, Rostock, Germany.
None:
Non-oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (EDH) is an attractive method for on-purpose ethene production, but achieving high activity and, especially, durability with catalysts based on earth-abundant metals remains challenging. Herein, we introduce the Co/SSZ-13 system with exclusively divalent cobalt (Co2+) ions that meets the above requirements. The use of complementary characterization techniques enabled us to reveal two Co2+ species: Co2+─Z2 located in the six-membered-ring windows and [Co(OH)]+─Z in the eight-membered-ring windows, with Z representing a charged zeolite framework site. A quantitative correlation between the rate of ethene formation and the site population establishes Co2+─Z2 as the active species. In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy confirms their structural and electronic stability under high-temperature reaction conditions. The optimized 0.9Co/SSZ-13 (0.9Co) catalyst showed highly durable operation over 200 dehydrogenation/oxidative regeneration cycles at 600-650°C lasting for 150 h with industrially relevant productivity. In this regard, it outperforms almost all previously developed catalysts even those with platinum as an active component. The obtained results uncover the atomic-level origins of EDH activity/durability of the Co/SSZ-13 system and highlight the critical role of metal site location in designing highly active, selective, and durable catalysts for on-purpose ethene production.
Related Concept Videos
Catalysis
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the...
Carboxylic Acids to Methylesters: Alkylation using Diazomethane
Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Reduction of Alkynes to cis-Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Like alkenes, alkynes can be reduced to alkanes in the presence of transition metal catalysts such as Pt, Pd, or Ni. The reaction involves two sequential syn additions of hydrogen via a cis-alkene intermediate.

