Synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbon materials and their catalytic performance in dehydrogenation of propane to propylene

Monolithic mesoporous carbons were prepared through a simple autoclaving method using citric acid as catalyst instead of HCl. The presence of citric acid plays an important role in determining the structural ordering of the resultant mesoporous structure due to the –COOH groups which can enhance hydrogen interaction between structural directing agent of triblock copolymer F127 and polymeric carbon precursor of resorcinol–formaldehyde resins. The obtained carbons have a hexagonal pore system, uniform pore size of ∼5.0 nm and high BET surface area of ∼758 m2/g. The prepared mesoporous carbons were used as catalyst for dehydrogenation of propane, exhibiting high catalytic activity and stability. After 50 h time-on-stream, the propane conversion of 12.1% was observed with propylene selectivity of 95.1% in the direct dehydrogenation process, while the propane conversion of 20.1% with propylene selectivity of 25.8% in oxidative dehydrogenation process. It has been found that the surface basic groups are active sites.